ABUJA, Nigeria – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has expressed profound sorrow over the passing of elder statesman, prominent industrialist, and Second Republic governor of the old Gongola State, Alhaji Bamanga Muhammad Tukur, CON, describing his death at the age of 90 as the conclusion of an extraordinary chapter in Nigeria’s political and economic evolution, the State House announced in an official communique issued in Abuja on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
The presidential condolence, released through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, paid tribute to the late Tafidan Adamawa as a towering national figure whose influence and administrative acumen left indelible footprints across public governance, maritime logistics, industrial enterprise, and Pan-African diplomacy.
Okay News reports that President Tinubu reflected extensively on Tukur’s multi-decade record of public service, beginning with his consequential stewardship as General Manager of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) between 1975 and 1982, during which he spearheaded the infrastructural modernization of the nation’s seaports and laid the operational foundations of Nigeria’s maritime sector.
The President recalled Tukur’s foray into partisan politics during the Second Republic on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), culminating in his election as civilian Governor of the defunct Gongola State—which now comprises Adamawa and Taraba states—in 1983, a democratic tenure that was truncated by the military intervention of December that year.
President Tinubu noted that following his gubernatorial leadership, Tukur achieved remarkable commercial success in the private sector as Chairman of BHI Holdings and the DADDO Group of Companies, building diversified industrial conglomerates spanning maritime logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, and general commerce, before being appointed Federal Minister of Industries from 1993 to 1995 under the military administration of General Sani Abacha.
On the continental stage, the President lauded Tukur’s diplomatic engagements as an articulate proponent of Africa’s economic renaissance, highlighting his tenures as Executive President of the African Business Roundtable (ABR) and Chairman of the NEPAD Business Group, where he championed cross-border trade liberalization and private-sector-led economic self-reliance across the African continent.
Tinubu also paid tribute to Tukur’s consequential role in fourth republic democratic governance, particularly his tenure as National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between March 2012 and January 2014, recalling his dedication to internal party discipline, structural reform, and broad-based political consensus-building.
“Alhaji Tukur was urbane, generous and deeply rooted in the values of integrity and service that the Adamawa Emirate and the nation hold dear,” President Tinubu stated. “He was a man of big ideas and bold enterprise who believed in Nigeria’s limitless potential. Nigeria will sorely miss his wise counsel and fatherly guidance.”
The President extended his heartfelt sympathies to the Tukur family, the Fombina Emirate of Adamawa, the Government and people of Adamawa State, and the wider political and business communities across Nigeria and Africa, praying that Almighty Allah forgive his shortcomings, grant his soul Aljannah Firdaus, and comfort all who mourn his departure.
