Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, former presidential aspirant, and ex-boss of Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO), died in London on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, after a prolonged illness.
The Marafan Sokoto was the vice-presidential candidate of Olu Falae in the APP/AD alliance in 1999, although they lost to the Olusegun Obasanjo/Atiku Abubakar PDP ticket.
He was also head of the secret police, the Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO), which has been rebranded Department of State Services (DSS), from 1979 to 1983.
Shinkafi, who held the traditional title of Marafan Sokoto, was a native of Shinkafi in Zamfara State.
He was a Federal Commissioner of Internal Affairs and a presidential aspirant in the third Republic. He also had an extensive career in military intelligence.
“The body will be flown back to Nigeria on Friday for burial at Abubakar III burial ground in Sokoto,” source said.
Shinkafi is survived by three wives, and five children. One of his daughters is Zainab, wife of Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, and another is Hadiza, the wife of Zamfara governor, AbdulAzeez Yari.