Ex-Governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, who was the first governor in the history of Nigeria to be impeached, has died. He was 84 years old.

Senator Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker from Kaduna, disclosed the news on his official Twitter account on Wednesday, writing, “Alhaji Balarabe Musa has died. May Allah forgive his soul and grant him Aljanna firdausi. Amin.”

A son of the deceased, Kassim Balarabe Musa, also confirmed the news in a short statement. He said, “I will like to inform you the passing away of my father, Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa. He died this morning about 30 minutes ago.”

Balarabe, who was a progressive, was the first civilian governor of Kaduna State in Nigeria’s Second Republic before he was controversially impeached on June 23, 1981.

He is considered a progressive and worked with people of like minds to mobilise against the military junta of late Sani Abacha. He was the leader of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), a coalition of opposition parties, in the Fourth Republic.

Before his death, he was the leader of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) in the 4th Republic but stepped down as the chairman in 2018 due to health issues.

They alleged that the suit was sponsored by those it described as “fifth columnists” to paint the president and his administration black in the eyes of the world.”

The group appealed to Nigerians to disregard the antics of Okeke and his alleged sponsors.

Expressing shock over the action of Okeke, the Igbo group said the action was “not only ill-timed but also mischievous.”

According to the statement, “This, no doubt, is an anti-progressive and anti-people action that should not have the support of people yearning for a better Nigeria.”

The group said contrary to the picture being painted by Okeke, his action had no blessings of the people from the southeast extraction, insisting that he was alone in his game.

“Just as we are shocked at the action of Mr. Kenechukwu, we are in utmost disbelief that an Igbo man could be used by some enemies of Nigeria to institute this evil action in court,” the group said.

“While we acknowledge his fundamental human rights to sue and be sued, we received this with mixed feelings considering that it is not only ill-timed but also mischievous. This, no doubt, is an anti-progressive and anti-people action that should not have the support of people yearning for a better Nigeria.

“Just as we are shocked at the action of Mr. Kenechukwu, we are in utmost disbelief that an Igbo man could be used by some enemies of Nigeria to institute this evil action in court.

“We wish to not only completely disown him but also strongly disassociate ourselves from him.