Shonekan, ex-Head of State, dies at 85

Former Interim Head of State, Chief Ernest Shonekan is dead. He was 85 last 9th May.

Family sources said the incident happened in Lagos.

S

honekan was appointed to replace military President Ibrahim Babangida on 26th August 1993 whose regime was enmeshed in political crisis following the voiding of the 12th June 1993 presidential election which billionaire businessman Chief Moshood Abiola won but was victory by the Babangida junta.

He was kicked out of office 84 days later by the then Minister of Defence, General Sani Abacha.

Babangida had appointed Shonekan as Head of Transitional Council on 2nd January 1993. That body was designed to be the final phase leading to a scheduled hand over to an elected democratic leader of Nigeria's Third Republic.

Before his political venture, Shonekan was a well known businessman, particularly in his years as Chairman and Chief Executive of then leading conglomerate, United African Company of Nigeria (UACN). UACN was then the largest African-controlled company in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

He rose through the ranks and joined the Board of Directors at the age of 40. He was made Chairman and Managing Director in 1980, and went on to cultivate a wide array of international business and political connections.

In 1994, Shonekan founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, an advocacy group and think-tank for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy.

He was the Abese of Egbaland, a traditional title conferred on him in 1981.

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