Former Finance Minister Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji Dies at 87
Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance and the Sardaunan Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, has died at the age of 87. Family sources confirmed that the elder statesman passed away in Abuja on Thursday, July 30, 2026, after reportedly battling a brief illness at a hospital in the city.
Official details surrounding the specific cause of death were not immediately disclosed by the family, though reports indicate he had been receiving medical treatment before his passing.
Alhaji’s death marks the end of a distinguished public service career that spanned more than three decades within Nigeria’s civil service and government. He held several strategic positions throughout his career, including Minister of Finance, Minister of State for Budget and Planning, Permanent Secretary, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Born into the family of Muhammed Sani, popularly known as Alhaji Alhaji, Abubakar Alhaji began his education in Kano before transferring to Government College, Katsina. He later attended Bournemouth College of Commerce and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, where he earned a degree in Political Economy. He also received professional training at the Hague Institute of Social Services in the Netherlands and the International Monetary Fund Institute in Washington, D.C.
He joined the Nigerian Civil Service in 1964 as an Assistant Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, steadily rising through the ranks over the following decades. In 1975, he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Commerce, a position he held until 1978. He returned to the Ministry of Finance in 1979 as Permanent Secretary, where he played a key role in managing Nigeria’s relations with its creditor nations and represented the country in negotiations for the Lomé II Agreement.
In 1988, former military Head of State General Ibrahim Babangida appointed him Minister of State for Budget and Planning. He was subsequently elevated to substantive Minister of Finance, a role he held between 1990 and 1991 during the Babangida administration. Following his tenure in government, he served as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1992 to 1996, a period during which he worked to strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations.
Beyond his public service career, Alhaji held one of the most revered traditional titles in the Sokoto Caliphate, the Sardaunan Sokoto. He was turbaned with the title in 1990, succeeding the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, who died in 1966.
Following his death, dignitaries including Vice President Kashim Shettima and the Sultan of Sokoto attended his burial rites in Sokoto State. Tributes have continued to pour in describing him as one of Nigeria’s most accomplished public administrators, whose contributions to economic policy, governance, and diplomacy left a lasting mark on the country’s development.
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