Alhaji Ibrahim Alhaji Photo credit: Daily Trust
By Abdullahi Abubakar
The Sardauna of Sokoto and former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji is dead.
He reportedly died at the age of 88.
Daily Trust reports that family sources confirmed that the elder statesman died on Thursday morning at a hospital in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, after a brief illness.
Alhaji served as Minister of National Planning and later Minister of Finance during the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida. In 1992, he was appointed Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom after leaving the Finance Ministry. He served in London until mid-1996, when the military government of General Sani Abacha replaced him with Ambassador Uche Okeke.
A direct descendant of Shehu Usmanu Danfodiyo, Alhaji began his public service career in 1964 as an Assistant Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance. By 1975, he had risen to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Trade before returning to the Ministry of Finance as Permanent Secretary in 1979.
As Permanent Secretary, he managed Nigeria’s relations with external creditors and served on the country’s negotiating team for the Lomé II Agreement. His reputation for administrative competence earned him appointment as Minister of State for Budget and Planning in 1988 under the Babangida administration.
He served as Minister of Finance between 1990 and 1991, a period marked by the implementation of structural adjustment policies and Nigeria’s engagement with international financial institutions.
Following his ministerial service, he represented Nigeria as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, where he was widely regarded for his measured diplomatic approach.
He was turbaned Sardauna of Sokoto in 1990, succeeding to the revered title once held by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of Northern Nigeria who was assassinated in 1966. As Sardauna, he was regarded as a custodian of the values and heritage of the Sokoto Caliphate.
