1993 presidential candidate, Bashir Tofa, dies at 74

The presidential candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC) in the 1993 election, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, has passed away.

He died at the age of 74.

Tofa, who contested against the late MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), died in the early hours of Monday after an illness.

It was gathered that the former presidential candidate passed away after being admitted in the hospital for sometime.

The demise of Tofa was further confirmed by one of his family members, Alhaji Muhammad.

Recall that the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was adjudged the freest and fairest in Nigeria, was annulled by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Tofa was born in Kano on June 20, 1947. He had his primary education at Shahuci Junior Primary and City Senior Primary School in Kano. From 1962 to 1966, he attended Provincial College, Kano. 1970 and 1973, he attended City of London College.

He made a foray into politics in 1976 when he became councillor of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area. In 1977, he was elected a member into the Constituent Assembly. During the Second Republic, Tofa was at various times the secretary of the Kano branch of NPN, he later became the party’s national financial secretary.