Buhari’s ex-aide Wada is dead

Lawal Sale Maida, a family member, confirmed his passing to the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said Maida died in Abuja on Monday after a brief illness.

The 70-year-old was former Editor-in-Chief and later Managing Director of NAN.

Maida was Chief Press Secretary to President Muhammadu Buhari when he was military Head of State.

He returned to NAN in 1985 to become its Editor-in-Chief, a position he held for eight years.

Maida was a member of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute and a shareholder of Media Trust Limited.

A family source was quoted as saying the deceased returned from Katsina earlier on Monday.

He had gone to the state to sympathise with one of his friends who lost his wife last week.