Kaduna Mourns As Former Dep. Gov, Bala Bantex, Dies From Cancer

Former Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Barnabas Yusuf Bala Bantex, has died from a long-running battle with cancer at the age of 64.

Bantex, who was deputy to Governor Nasir El-Rufai during his first term between 2015 and 2019, died Sunday morning in Abuja.

The departed politician faced a stiff opposition towards the tail end of his tenure as deputy governor, a situation that forced him to step aside to seek election in the 2019 general elections to represent Kaduna South Senatorial District in the Senate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC. But he lost to the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

Prior to his emergence as deputy governor, Bala Bantex, who joined APC in 2015, had been a two-term member of the House of Representatives as member representing Kaura Federal Constituency.

Governor El-Rufai announced Bantex’s death in a statement on Sunday, declaring: “In the midst of trying times, I have received with utter sadness news of the departure of my friend and brother, His Excellency Barnabas Bantex.

“I have spoken to his family and conveyed our condolence on behalf of the government and people of Kaduna State. We shall work closely with his family to grant a befitting farewell to a man who gave so much to this state even when hobbled by ill-health”.