The Emir of Gombe died yesterday at a London hospital, where he was being treated for cancer, sources close to his family said.
Alhaji Shehu Usman Abubakar died at 76.
He was the 10th Emir of Gombe, a position he held for 30 years. He was also the chairman of the state Council of Emirs and Chiefs.
The late Abubakar served in various civil service capacities before being appointed emir in January 1984 to succeed his late father Alhaji Abubakar Umar.
He was survived by two wives and 16 children, among whom is the Gombe State Commissioner of Women Affairs Hajiya Fatima Shehu Abubakar.
The state government announced the death later yesterday, in a statement by the secretary to the state government Abubakar Sule Bage.
Family sources told Daily Trust that body of the late emir is to be flown to Nigeria from the United Kingdom tonight, while the burial would be held tomorrow in Gombe.
The late Abubakar was born on March 3, 1938 in Gombe. He held a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Administration obtained from the University of Ile-Ife in 1972.
He also attended the Elementary School Gombe, Middle School Bauchi, Barewa College Zaria, Technical College Kaduna (now Kaduna Polytechnic), and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, from where he obtained a Higher Diploma in Local Government Administration and Native Treasury Accounting in 1965.
He was a delegate at the 2005 National Political conference, and held the National Honours of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR).
The late Abubakar worked in various civil service capacities in the Native Authority, North-Eastern State and Bauchi State, before he became emir in 1984.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has described the late emir’s death as shocking.
In a statement by his spokesman Malam Imam Imam, Tambuwal said the late traditional ruler was a man of peace whose reign brought about unprecedented development in Gombe Emirate.
He said also the deceased was a man of conviction who earned the respect of his subjects and outsiders alike.

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