A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Obadiah Mailafia is dead.
Mailafia reportedly died at the National Hospital Sunday morning.
He was 64.
He was said to have been sick and rushed to the facility from Makurdi, Benue State, where he was allegedly taking refuge.
Mailafia ran for the office of the President in the 2019 election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). He lost to President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was invited at least three times by the State Security Service’ (SSS) in 2020 after he claimed that one of the governors in the North was sponsoring Boko Haram, a deadly terrorist group in the country.
The ICIR reported how he claimed his life was in danger after receiving his third invitation from the SSS in November last year.
The US had, early this month, reportedly vowed to expose sponsors of the dreaded group.
The Cable quoted the Spokesperson of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU) Luka Binniyat as confirming his death in a telephone chat on Sunday.
“Binniyat said Mailafia, who took refuge in Markudi, Benue State, following alleged persistent harassment by the Department of State Security Services (DSS), fell sick on Saturday and was rushed to an Abuja hospital.
“You know, following his harassment by the DSS, he has been taking refuge from place to place,” Binniyat said.
“The last place he went to take refuge is Markudi. Yesterday (Saturday), he took ill and he was rushed to the hospital that he normally attended in Abuja.This morning, he was pronounced dead,” the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has described Mailafia’s death as being suspicious.
In two separate posts on his verified Facebook Page, Omokri said Mailafia’s “passing is fishy and should be independently investigated.”
This was a man who accused the Federal Government and a certain North-Western Governor of being behind Boko Haram’s terrorism, he said.
“Last month, he spoke to the media and revealed the existence of a certain ‘Jigawa cabal’ that was enriching itself by frustrating the CBN’s effort to sustain the value of the Naira vis à vis the dollar. It is possible that his death was natural.
“But then, knowing the antics of the Buhari regime, there is also the possibility that there is more to his passing than meets the eye. I urge his family to call for an independent investigation, preferably a judicial inquiry into his death. It is far too convenient for the Buhari administration!,” he claimed.
Mailafia was born on December 24, 1956 in Randa in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
His father Baba Mailafia Gambo Galadima was an evangelist with the Evangelical Reformed Church of Central Nigeria.
He graduated top of his class at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1978 with a B.Sc. Honours Social Sciences (Politics, Economics and Sociology). He also had an M.Sc. from the same institution.
He was the chief economist at the Strategic Planning and Budgeting Department of the African Development Bank Group from 2001 to 2005.
Mailafia was recalled home from the African Development Bank to serve as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].