Former interim President, who took over from former military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, following his famous stepping aside, Chief Ernest Shonekan, has died. He was aged 85.
Shonekan died at the Evercare Hospital in Lekki, Lagos.
He was the interim head of the Nigerian government between August 26 and November 17, 1993, when he was removed from office in a bloodless coup d’etat by late General Sani Abacha.
Shonekan, a former chairman of UAC and its first Nigerina CEO, succeeded the military junta headed by General Babangida, after the rumpus that trailed the annulment of the presidential election held in June, which was believed to be won by late MKO Abiola.
Babangida had arranged the interim contraption, after he was forced to ‘step aside’, in the aftermath of the annulment of June 12 election results.
But, on November 17, 1993, Shonekan was toppled by the then Chief of Army Staff, General Abacha, through a coup.
After his removal from office, Shonekan lived a quiet life, contributing to issues of nation-building, especially as a member of the Council of State, where he and others advised the incumbent leader on how to effectively run the country.
The deceased, who hails from Abeokuta in Ogun State, was born in Lagos on May 9, 1936. He was one of six children born into the family.
He attended CMS Grammar School and Igbobi College and proceeded to the University of London for a degree in Law. He later attended Harvard Business School.
In 1994, he founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, an advocacy group and think-tank for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy.
