Former Kogi State governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, has reportedly died in the United Kingdom at the age of 77.
The development happened on Sunday, September 20, 2026. However, details surrounding his reported death remained unclear as of press time, and no immediate statement had been issued by his family.
Idris served as governor of Kogi State from 2003 to 2008 and again from 2008 to 2012 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He was elected governor in 2003 after defeating the incumbent, Prince Abubakar Audu, and was sworn into office on May 29 of that year.
His 2007 re-election was later nullified after the courts ruled that the poll was invalid because Audu, the All Nigeria Peoples Party candidate, had been excluded from the election. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision in February 2008 and ordered a fresh election. Idris subsequently won the March 2008 re-run election and continued in office. He completed his tenure in January 2012 and was succeeded by Captain Idris Wada.
Born in 1949 in Idah, present-day Kogi State, Idris began his early education in Onitsha, Anambra State, before completing his primary education in Kano.
He later attended King’s Commercial College in Buguma, Rivers State, and obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Abuja.
Before entering politics, Idris was a businessman. He founded Ibro Trading Company, which had interests in construction, furniture manufacturing and hospitality. He also established a furniture factory in Sokoto and founded Ibro Hotel. The former governor attracted national attention in 2006 when three of his daughters survived the ADC Airlines Flight 53 crash.
The crash claimed several lives, while only a few passengers survived. Idris described the survival of his daughters as a “superlative show of mercy” from God.
