Education World

Ailing Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua died on Wednesday in Abuja, following a protracted illness, presidential spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi has announced.

The President died at about 9 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) in his official residence where he was recuperating from his illness, Adeniyi said.

Yar’adua’s aides have briefed Acting President” Goodluck Jonathan on the former ruler’s transition.

The late President Yar’Adua had a serious kidney complaint in 2000, and tried to dismiss rumors of continued ill health in 2007 by challenging his critics to a game of squash.

He interrupted his presidential election campaign months later to seek medical care in Germany.