A former press secretary of President Muhammadu Buhari, Wada Maida, has passed on, aged 70.
Maida was, until his death, the chairman of the board of directors of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Maida died in Abuja on Monday, a member of his family, Lawal Maida, told NAN.
Former editor-in-chief and later managing director of NAN, Maida, was one of the pioneer editors of the agency and served at various times as its regional editor in Kaduna, political editor and London correspondent.
He was Buhari’s chief press secretary when the latter became military head of state in December 1983. Maida returned to NAN in 1985 to become its editor-in-chief for eight years.
The Katsina native was appointed managing director of NAN in 1994 and served in that capacity for nine years before he bowed out in 2003.
NAN acting managing director, Dele Ojo, described Maida’s death as “shocking and devastating”.
