Deputy Majority Leader of the Nigerian House of
Representatives, Hon. Umar Buba Jubril, an APC member who represented
Lokoja/Koto Constituency, has died in the early hours of this Friday
morning, March 30.
Jubril had been serving a third term in the House of Representatives
and was also a former Speaker of the Kogi State House Assembly between
2003- 2005.
Jibril sponsored the controversial non-governmental organisation regulatory commission bill.
When he introduced the bill, he said there was no existing framework “to supervise the mode of operations” of NGOs.
Amid
the controversy generated by the bill’s introduction, Jibril had said
the legislation was aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in
the way and manner NGOs collect funds.
“The NGO bill, therefore,
is primarily to set up a commission to regulate their activities and
provide a platform for robust relationships between them and the
government for the interests of Nigerians,” he had said.
During a public hearing organised
to deliberate on the bill in December 2017, no civil society
organisation and non-governmental organisation spoke in support of it.
According to a family source, Jibril died in the early hours of
Friday in a hospital at Abuja after suffering from a protracted
illness.
Hon. Jubril was highly loved by his people, was a formidable
political leader in Lokoja/ Kotonkarfi axis who had a large following
and was a dominant figure since about 10 years on.
A renowned architect, Jubril was a lecturer at a tertiary institution in Niger State before he ventured into electoral politics.
His remains will be buried later today at his hometown, Lokoja, according to Muslim rites.
He was 58 years old.