By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Obadiah Mailafia, has died at a medical facility in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The ex-central banker, who recently claimed his life was under threat because he claimed that some powerful persons, including a serving Governor, were sponsors of the Boko Haram terrorist group, died at the age of 64.
Mr Mailafia was said to have died on Sunday morning at the National Hospital Abuja, according to the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Middle Belt Forum, Ms Ndi Kato.
According to reports, the renowned economist and columnist breathed his last after a brief illness. He had reportedly gone into hiding after his life was allegedly threatened.
After he made the allegation on a radio show on Nigerian Info, Mr Mailafia was invited by the Department of State Service (DSS). He initially refused to honour the invitation but later went.
Mr Mailafia, born on December 24, 1956, in the Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State, attended the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna and graduated in 1978 with a BSc in Social Sciences degree (Politics, Economics and Sociology). He later obtained an MSc from the same institution.
He subsequently won a French Government Scholarship to France, where he earned a Certificate in French Language and Civilisation from the University of Clermont-Ferrand in 1985.
A year after joining politics in 2018, he contested in the presidential election under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC and lost to the eventual winner, Mr Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
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