Isa Funtua dies in Abuja, burial today

Founding managing director of defunct Democrat newspaper, Mallam Isa Funtua, is dead.

He reportedly died of cardiac arrest in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, yesterday night.

Life patron of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the late Funtua was a businessman and a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari. His company, Bulet Construction, of which he was chairman, built the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.

Buhari’s aide on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, confirmed Funtua’s passage in a tweet, yesterday night.

“This life! May Allah accept his soul, forgive his shortcomings and grant him Jannah al-Firdaus,” Ahmad wrote.

The late businessman was born in Funtua, Katsina State.

He was a pioneer student of the Federal Training Centre Kaduna.

He trained as an administrative officer at the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and as an administrator at the Manchester University in the UK.

He was the Monitor General of Course 9, the prestigious National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.

He served at the Katsina Native Authority for seven years as an Administrative Officer.

His construction company, Bulet built most of the iconic public buildings in Abuja.