Yusuf Barnabas Bala, also known as Bantex, a former deputy governor of Kaduna State, is dead.
Daily Trust gathered that Bantex died in the early hours of Sunday.
He was the deputy governor between 2015 and 2019, the first tenure of Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
He had stepped aside to contest the senate seat for Kaduna South Senatorial district in 2019 but he lost to Senator Danjuma La’ah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Confirming the tragic incident, El-Rufai said: “In the midst of trying times, I have received with utter sadness news of the departure of my friend and brother, His Excellency Barnabas Yusuf Bala (Bantex).”
Bantex, former chairman of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna, was a member of the House of Representatives.
Like El-Rufai, the deceased was an Architect. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna, alongside the governor.
