Buhari’s Ally Is Dead

Ismaila Isa Funtua will be buried on Tuesday in the Federal capital city according to Islamic rites.

Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua, founding publisher of defunct Democrat Newspaper and former President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), is dead.

He died of cardiac arrest Monday night in Abuja.

Funtua, a businessman and a close ally and in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari, was chairman of Bulet Construction, which built the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.

Despite closing his newspaper, he remained committed to the print media and a defender of media freedom.

He was life patron of Newspaper’s Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).

Malam Ismaila Isa was born in Funtua, Katsina State about 75 years ago. Some friends put his age at 77-78.

He was a pioneer student of the Federal Training Centre Kaduna.

He later trained as an administrative officer at the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and as an administrator at the Manchester University in the UK.

He served at the Katsina Native Authority for seven years as an Administrative Officer.

Isa Funtua was also a former minister of water resources and had the national honour of Officer of the Niger(OFN).

*Our earlier post indicating he will be buried Monday night corrected.