JUST-IN: Gen Gowon Is Alive, Hale, Hearty, Says Aide

Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), has denied the rumour making the rounds on social media that he was dead, saying he is still very much alive and well.

A personal aide to General Gowon, Adeyeye E. Ajayi, disclosed this on Monday amid confusion occasioned by the social media report on the purported death of the former Head of State.

Ajayi quoted General Gowon as saying: “I am still around and well. I am not in a hurry.”

Earlier in the day, there was confusion over the fate of the former Head of State with the social media awashed with an unconfirmed report of his purported death.

However, checks by LEADERSHIP correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa seat of power on one hand and Kaduna and Plateau State Government Houses, on the other hand, proved otherwise.

Also, the Delta State governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general election, Olorogun Barr. Kenneth Gbagi, refuted the rumour making the rounds that the former Head of State was dead.

Gbagi described the social media report as the “handiwork of mischief makers.”

The former Minister of State for Education, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Orusi Kenneth, on Monday, however, confirmed that the former Head of State is currently in the United Kingdom.

Gbagi disclosed that General Gowon was alive, hale and hearty, and presently in London.

Kenneth quoted Olorogun Gbagi as saying that: “General Gowon is still much around with us, hale and hearty. He is not in a hurry to go anywhere.”

The former chairman of Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, who urged Nigerians to ignore rumour about General Gowon’s death, said: “I, Gbagi, just spoke with him. I hereby refute the rumour of the death of my friend, General Gowon.

“He has communicated to Nigerians that he is still much around, hale and hearty. Gowon is alive.”

LEADERSHIP recalls that General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) was Nigeria’s military Head of State between August, 1966 and July, 1975.