Gombe deputy gov dies in German hospital
Albashi died at 52 at the Stadtiches Klinikum Karlsrule Stuttgart Hospital in Germany. Secretary to the state government Abubakar Sule Bage in a statement yesterday confirmed the death, which he said occurred in the early hours of yesterday. Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo has declared a seven-day mourning period, and directed for low-keyed Eid el-Kabir celebrations […]
Albashi died at 52 at the Stadtiches Klinikum Karlsrule Stuttgart Hospital in Germany.
Secretary to the state government Abubakar Sule Bage in a statement yesterday confirmed the death, which he said occurred in the early hours of yesterday.
Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo has declared a seven-day mourning period, and directed for low-keyed Eid el-Kabir celebrations in the state. He said funeral arrangement for the departed deputy governor will be announced later.
Albashi was involved in a motor accident on August 28 while on his way from Billiri to his hometown of Cham, along Gombe-Yola highway, after attending a thanks giving service at a church. His police orderly died in the accident.
The late deputy governor sustained some internal injuries in his head and was taken first to the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, then to the National Hospital, Abuja, from where he was flown to Germany on September 13.
He is survived by three wives and 12 children.
Albashi was born on January 15, 1959 at Cham, Balanga Local Government Area of Gombe State. He attended Zakawon Primary School in Adamawa State; Teachers College, Toro, Bauchi State; Kaduna Polytechnic; and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, where he obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in 2009.
He started his working career as a primary school teacher in 1981. He joined politics in 1990 when he was elected as vice chairman of Balanga LGA under the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC). He served variously as commissioner of water resources, works and agriculture during the regime of Alhaji Muhammad Danjuma Goje, until his nomination in 2011 to serve as deputy governor to the incumbent governor Dankwambo. He was also the first deputy chairman of the state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Reacting to Albashi’s demise, permanent secretary in the deputy governor’s office, Adamu Haruna Abubakar, described the death as a great loss not only to the people of the state but the country as a whole because of his detribalised disposition.
Our correspondent who visited the late Albashi’s office reports that staffers were seen in shock as the permanent secretary gathered them to officially announce the death to them
The situation was similar at his residence in GRA Gombe, where family members were seen crying and sympathizers trooping to register their condolences.