Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has described the late Major General Abdullahi Mohammed, who died early this morning (October 5, 2025), as a great soldier and administrator.

Saraki in a statement from his Media Office in Abuja noted that General Mohammed served the country both in the military and the democratic sphere, even though he was not a politician.

“Our country has missed a good soldier, administrator, intelligence officer, and patriot. He was a man whose skill and experience would have been useful to us at this critical period when the country is facing a security crisis. I commiserate with all Nigerians, the people of Kwara State, and the good people of Ilorin emirate on the death of this eminent son.

SPONSOR AD

“May Allah (SWT) admit him into aljannah Firdaus and grant his family the fortitude to bear the loss.”, Saraki stated.

Mohammed, a retired Major-General, who was the former Chief of Staff to Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, died at about 1:00am, on Wednesday.

The late senior military officer, who was popularly known as Atoto, was born in Ilorin, Kwara State, in 1939.

He attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in the United Kingdom, and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1958.

Mohammed rose through the ranks to become Director of Military Intelligence and played a notable role in the 1975 coup that ousted General Yakubu Gowon and brought Murtala Mohammed to power.

Following the change of government, he was appointed Governor of Benue-Plateau State, a position he held from July 1975 to March 1976.

In March 1976, under General Olusegun Obasanjo’s military administration, he was appointed Director-General of the National Security Organisation (NSO), the forerunner of the present Department of State Services (DSS), a post he held until 1979.

After his retirement from the army that same year, he ventured into private business, becoming Managing Director of Atoto Press Limited in Ilorin.

In 1998, the late General was recalled to public service when he was appointed National Security Adviser by then Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, a role he held until May 1999.

At the return of civilian rule, he was appointed Chief of Staff to President Olusegun Obasanjo, a position he retained under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua until his resignation in June 2008.

Throughout his career, he was regarded as a disciplined officer, a trusted aide, and a silent power broker in Nigeria’s political and security landscape.