Bashir Othman Tofa (20 June 1947 – 3 January 2022) was a Nigerian politician. A Kanuri

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

who hailed from

Kano State Kano State (Hausa: ''Jihar Kano''جىِهَر كَنوُ) (Fula: Leydi Kano 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞤲𞤮𞥅 ) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. According to the national census done in ...

, Tofa was the

National Republican Convention The National Republican Convention was a Nigerian political party established by the government of General Ibrahim Babangida and ultimately disbanded by the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1993. Alignment The party was organized to cat ...

(NRC) candidate in the annulled Nigeria's 12 June 1993 presidential election, which was organised by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Life

Tofa was born in Kano,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, to a Kanuri family on 20 June 1947. He had his primary education at Shahuci Junior Primary, Kano and then continued studies at City Senior Primary School in Kano. From 1962 to 1966, he attended Provincial College, Kano. After completing his studies at the Provincial school, he worked for Royal Exchange Insurance company from 1967 to 1968. From 1970 to 1973, he attended

City of London College London Guildhall University was a university in the United Kingdom from 1992 to 2002, established when the City of London Polytechnic was awarded university status. On 1 August 2002, it merged with the University of North London to form Londo ...

. Tofa's sojourn into politics started in 1976 when he was a councilor of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Council, in 1977, he was elected a member into the Constituent Assembly. During the

Nigerian Second Republic The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic. Background Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region en ...

, Tofa was at various times the secretary of the Kano branch of NPN, he later became the party's national financial secretary and was a national member of the Green Revolution National Committee. During the Third Republic, he was part of the Liberal Movement which metamorphosed to Liberal Convention when it was not registered as a political party, Tofa joined NRC in 1990. In 1993, when the Babangida administration introduced the Option A4 system, Tofa was elected the presidential candidate representing Kano. During the party primaries, he defeated Pere Ajunwa, Joe Nwodo and Dalhatu Tafida to clinch the NRC ticket. He was an ally of

Halilu Akilu Halliru Akilu (born 2 November 1947) is a Nigerian general who was Director of National Intelligence and Director of Military Intelligence at various times in the 1990s. Early life Akilu was born and educated in Kano State. Military career Aki ...

, the security chief at the time. His running mate in the election was

Sylvester Ugoh Sylvester Ugoh was the Vice President of Nigeria, Vice Presidential candidate of the National Republican Convention in 1993, the NRC's President of Nigeria, Presidential candidate being Bashir Tofa. Ugoh was the governor of Bank of Biafra, Biafr ...

, an Igbo and a former governor of the now defunct central bank of

Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...

. Both were members of the defunct National Party of Nigeria. Tofa was apparently defeated in the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

by his rival

Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola , also known as M. K. O. Abiola (24 August 1937 – 7 July 1998) was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the Aare Ona Kankafo XIV of Yorubaland and an aristocrat of the Egba clan. M.K.O ...

, a personal friend of BabangidaRufai, Misbahu. (11 May 1990). A man called MKO. ''Muslim Journal.'' and a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

from southwest Nigeria, but the official results were never released by Babangida's government. Babangida was forced to step down in August 1993 after protests calling for the results of the election. He was also a businessman, an oil trader and industrialist. He was chairman of International Petro-Energy Company (IPEC) and Abba Othman and Sons ltd. He was also involved as a board member in Impex Ventures, Century Merchant Bank and General Metal Products ltd. Tofa died at

Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital is a Federal Government Teaching Hospital located in Kano State, Nigeria. It was formerly known as Bayero University Teaching hospital. The current chief medical director is Abdurrahman Abba Sheshe. Aminu Kano Teachi ...

on 3 January 2022, at the age of 74.

References

External links

Nigeria chronology ''Profile''
1947 births 2022 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Nigeria) National Republican Convention politicians Candidates in the 1993 Nigerian presidential election Kanuri people People from Kano State {{Nigeria-politician-stub