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Ernest Shonekan Dead – 10 Fast Facts About The Late Former National Leader

Ernest Shonekan dead

Chief Ernest Shonekan who served as the interim leader of the Nigerian government has passed away.

Shonekan who was 85 years old died on the 11th of January 2022 in a hospital in the Lekki area of Lagos State.

His death was confirmed to the media by the government of Ogun State where the late elder statesman hails.

Fast Facts About Ernest Shonekan

  1. Ernest Shonekan was appointed as the interim leader of the Nigerian Government by General Ibrahim Babangida in 1993. The appointment came after severe pressure on Babangida to relinquish power after he rejected the results of the June 12, 1993 election which MKO Abiola had won.
  2. Shonekan’s reign was short-lived lasting for merely three months (August 26, 1993 – November 17, 1993) as he was ousted by a palace coup led by General Sani Abacha.
  3. Shonekan was on the 2nd of January 1993 appointed to serve as the head of the transitional council that was set up by General Babangida as the final phase of power handover to a democratic government.
  4. Before being called to serve as an interim national leader, Ernest Shonekan was serving as the Chairman and managing director of United Africa Company of Nigeria (UAC).
  5. He had joined UAC in 1964 and rose through the ranks of the company to become an assistant legal adviser and later deputy adviser and a member of its board of directors when he was 40 years old.
  6. Ernest Shonekan was a lawyer who earned his law degree from the University of London before proceeding to attend the illustrious Harvard Business School. He was also educated at CMS Grammer School and Igbobi College.
  7. Shonekan was born on the 9th of May 1936 in Lagos State into a family of 8 including his parents. His father was a civil servant from Abeokuta, Ogun State.
  8. After being ousted by Abacha, Ernest Shonekan founded the advocacy and think-tank, Nigerian Economic Summit Group in 1994. The group was incorporated as a non-profit in 1996. NESG is a non-partisan and apolitical organization that aims to promote sustainable growth and the development of the Nigerian economy.
  9. Shonekan was married to Margaret Shonekan and they had four children including Korede Shonekan, Adeboye Shonekan, Kemi Shonekan, and Yele Shonekan.
  10. Ernest Shonekan was the third oldest surviving head of state after Queen Elizabeth II and General Yakubu Gowon.

Read Also: Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Dosunmu Has Passed On

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Gunmen abduct Kwara APC chairman’s wife, daughter in midnight raid

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted the wife and daughter of Alhaji Muhammad Swasun, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The victims, identified as Hajiya Fatima and her daughter Amina, were seized on Sunday, September 7, at night when a five-man armed gang stormed the party chairman’s residence in Sakpefu.

Eyewitness accounts revealed that the attackers scaled the compound fence and opened fire indiscriminately to terrify residents before breaking into one of the rooms.

“They entered into one of the rooms where they found his wife and daughter and took them away, shooting into the air,” a party executive told reporters, adding that the chairman narrowly escaped being kidnapped himself.

Another APC member confirmed that the gunmen operated for several minutes before whisking the women to an undisclosed location.

“The bandits abducted his wife, Hajiya Fatima, and his daughter, Amina, and took them to an unknown destination,” the source explained, according to Vanguard.

The latest abduction has heightened anxiety in Patigi, a region already grappling with recurring cases of kidnapping.

Residents have repeatedly urged the government and security operatives in recent months to intensify efforts to curb the menace.

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Ace Comedian Ali Baba evicted from Victoria Island property over legal dispute

Veteran Nigerian comedian Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome, popularly known as Ali Baba, has been evicted from his luxurious, multi-million-naira property located in Victoria Island due to a court dispute.

The property, which was purchased for ₦220 million by Ali Baba, is the subject of an ownership dispute at the Federal High Court.

Amid the legal dispute, Ali Baba and his company, XQZMOI TV, were evicted from the property located at 324A Akin Ogunlewe Street.

The eviction was carried out by bailiffs of the Federal High Court following a writ of possession signed on August 15, 2025.

The property in question was initially sold to Ali Baba by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2021 for ₦220 million.

At the time, AMCON claimed it was recovering debts allegedly owed by Harold Expansion Industries Nigeria Limited.

But Harold Expansion disputed the debt and counterclaimed that they had already made repayments. Their lawyer, Benjamin Olayiwola Sadibo, insisted that the property was sold wrongfully.

On July 31, 2025, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court delivered a verdict that changed everything as he dismissed AMCON’s case, ruling that the corporation had failed to provide convincing evidence of the alleged debt.

The Justice stressed that AMCON did not even present a statement of account to back its claims a fatal omission for a creditor. Worse still, AMCON did not file a defence against Harold Expansion’s counterclaim, leaving the court with no choice but to side with the company.

In addition to ordering the property to be returned to the family of its original owner, the judge also imposed ₦500 million in damages on AMCON.

Ali Baba’s culpability in the case came as a result of the timing of the purchase. Records show that he purchased the property while the case was still in court, despite an existing preservation order.

He was said to have been a tenant of the property’s original owner before AMCON evicted the family and sold it.

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Police summon El-Rufai, other Kaduna ADC chieftains over alleged criminal conspiracy

Anti-Open Grazing

The Kaduna Command of the Nigerian Police has summoned former Governor of the state, Malam Nasiru El-Rufai, and other top chieftains of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In the summons letter dated September 4, 2025, the ADC members were invited for questioning over alleged incitement of public disturbance, criminal conspiracy, mischief, and causing grievous hurt.

Signed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Uzainu Abdullahi, the letter said the invited individuals are required to come and clarify the allegations against them.

“This Department is currently investigating the above-mentioned case involving the following members of your party. You are requested to come along with them to SCID to clarify allegations reported against them by the complainants on 8th September, 2025.

“Mal. Nasir El-Rufa’i, Bashir Sa’idu, Jafaru Sani, Ubaidullah Mohammed, aka 30, Nasiru Maikano, Aminu Abita, and Ahmed Rufa’i Hussaini, aka Mikiya,” the letter reads.

Sani, one of the invited members and ADC North-West Vice Chairman, told Daily Trust that he learned of the invitation through social media.

“Yes, most of us only saw the statement on social media,” he said, declining further comments.

The development followed the heated exchanges between the Kaduna State government and El-Rufai over the violence that rocked an ADC meeting in the state last week.

The government accused the former Governor of plotting to cause destabilisation in the state through provocative actions and inflammatory statements.

In a statement signed by Dr. Suleiman Shuaibu, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, the government said it wouldn’t sit idle and watch El-Rufai plunge the state back into violence, division, and insecurity.

“This Government will not fold its arms and allow a discredited former leader, who left the state in ruins, to ignite chaos and plunge the state into another era of ethno-religious tension, insecurity, and economic stagnation,” the statement read.

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