Ex-finance Minister, Sen Jubril Martins-Kuye Dies at 78

Jubril Martins-Kuye, a former Nigerian senator who also served twice as a federal minister, has died. 

Family sources told Newsmen on Sunday that Mr. Martins-Kuye passed on on Sunday morning in his hometown of Ago-Iwoye. He was 78.

Mr. Martins-Kuye was trained as a chartered accountant, practicing for several years in Lagos and oversees before moving to politics where he brought his conservative bonafides to bear.

Mr. Kuye was first elected to the Nigerian Senate in the truncated Third Republic. When democracy returned in 1999, he ran unsuccessfully for governor as PDP candidate against Olusegun Osoba in Ogun State. He was subsequently appointed minister of state for finance by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, remaining in the cabinet until 2003.

Between 2010 and 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan tapped Mr. Martins-Kuye as his commerce and industry minister while completing the remaining tenure of departed President Umar Yar-Adua. 

He was also Aare Musilumi of Ogun State for several decades. He worked across Nigeria’s political and ideological spectrum and sought alliances between the north and the south.

Mr. Martins-Kuye will be buried shortly after 4:00 p.m. based on Islamic rites in his sprawling country home in Ago-Iwoye, family sources told the Gazette without elaborating on the ailments that preceded his demise.

He left behind his two wives and children.