Information pieced together has shown that Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua actually drove himself to the hospital where he suffered the fatal heart attack that took his life.
Presidential spokesman, Shehu Garba, told an online newspaper that Funtua was on his way from the mosque when he began to feel unwell and drove to the hospital.
Funtua is a well known confidante of President Muhammadu Buhari, and according to PRNigeria.com, his son, Abubakar, is married to a daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Another source, former Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, in a piece published in Everyday.ng, said she gathered he drove himself to the hospital, passing on shortly after.
Funtua was the founding Managing Director of Democrat Newspaper and former President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).
PRNigeria reports that the relationship between the Funtua family and the Buhari family dates back into the seventies and the eighties when the elder Funtua and the current Nigerian helmsman were both in the public service and the military respectively.
Late Funtua was life patron of Newspaper’s Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and Chairman of Bulet Construction company. He will be buried according to Islamic rites Tuesday.
Expressing his sadness over the passing of Funtua, President Buhari, in a statement by his spokesman, Garba, said: “President Muhammadu Buhari received with deep sadness on Monday evening information on passing of his longtime friend and associate, Malam Isma’ila Isa Funtua, who was Life Patron of International Press Institute and Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria.
“The President condoles with family members, government and people of Katsina State, and all associates of the former President of NPAN, especially the media industry, on the loss, describing him as ‘greatly admired and respected.
“The President prayed to Allah for repose of Malam Funtua’s soul, and to grant the family strength and fortitude to bear the loss.”