ABUJA, Nigeria — Aminu Yusuf, chairman of Nigeria’s National Population Commission, has died in Abuja at age 66, less than nine months after taking charge of the agency responsible for the country’s population census and demographic records. The commission said Yusuf died Friday after a brief illness. Daily Trust, citing a source within the commission, reported that he died at Nizamiya Hospital in the Nigerian capital after Friday prayers.
Yusuf had become ill several days earlier while preparing for a trip to Rwanda, according to the Daily Trust report. His media adviser, Stanley Nwosu, separately confirmed the death, saying, “Yes, it is true. The NPC chairman died after a brief illness.” Some reports attributed his illness to diabetes-related complications, but neither the commission nor his family had publicly confirmed a specific medical cause of death.
President Bola Tinubu appointed Yusuf in 2025, and he was sworn in Dec. 3 as the eighth substantive chairman of the National Population Commission. Yusuf had outlined a seven-point reform agenda aimed at strengthening the commission, improving demographic data and preparing Nigeria for a credible, technology-driven population and housing census. In his inaugural address, he pledged that population data produced under his leadership would be “scientifically sound and transparently generated.”
Born April 15, 1960, in Wushishi, Niger state, Yusuf had a career spanning education, politics and public administration. He served as executive chairman of Wushishi Local Government Area, was elected to the Niger State House of Assembly, served on the board of Nigeria’s food and drug regulator and worked as a political affairs adviser to former Niger Gov. Abubakar Sani Bello. He also held the traditional title of Talban Wushishi.
His death comes at a sensitive time for Nigeria’s efforts to conduct its first national census in two decades. The country’s last census was held in 2006, and a new count scheduled for May 2023 was postponed shortly before it was due to begin, leaving policymakers dependent largely on projections for planning. United Nations-based estimates put Nigeria’s 2026 population at more than 242 million, making it Africa’s most populous country and the world’s sixth largest by population. Reliable census data are important not only for allocating public services and political representation but also for international development, investment and planning in one of the world’s fastest-growing major populations.
Information Minister Mohammed Idris described Yusuf’s death as “a painful loss to the National Population Commission, the public service and the entire nation,” praising his plans for a credible, technology-driven census. Niger state Gov. Mohammed Umaru Bago also called the death a “colossal loss,” saying Yusuf’s experience would be missed as Nigeria prepares for its long-delayed population count. The federal government had not immediately announced who would take over leadership of the commission following Yusuf’s death
