A Peoples’ Democratic Party chieftain and former governor of the defunct Gongola State, Wilberforce Bafte Juta is dead.
Juta was reported to have died on Saturday, morning, August 15, after a brief illness.
The governor of Adamawa state, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who confirmed the death of Wilberforce, said he received the news with shock and grief.
Fintiri described the ex-governor as an elder statesman and an epitome of humaneness.
Wilberforce Juta, who was deputy governor of Gongola State from 1979, became governor early in 1983 when his principal, Abubakar Barde, resigned from office.
Juta remained governor till October 1983 when his successor, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur, was elected.
The junta led by General Muhammadu Buhari that took power in a military coup in 1983 jailed him 21 years for corrupt practices and abuse of power on 17 April 1985.
Later that year the sentence was reduced to five years plus a fine and in July 1986, he was barred for life from holding public office with his sentence reduced to a three-year term.
He was Nigeria’s ambassador to Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2004.
