'Maitama Sule surrendered himself for arrest after 1983 coup,' Ex-Head of State says

Abubakar said Sule packed his bags and insisted he should not be the only one left out when other politicians have been arrested.

Abubakar was a brigade commander of the army at the time.

The ex-head of state disclosed this when he paid a condolence visit to the Governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Sunday, July 9.

Abubakar said, "I was at my office when Dan Masani (the deceased) came with his luggage. He looked at me and said ‘why should you leave me alone when you have arrested all my associates? I want you to arrest me so that you can unite me with my fellow politicians in Lagos’".

"So, you see the kind of struggle by people like late Dan Masani in order to unite Nigeria."

He said Sule was indeed a Nigerian hero.

"We have indeed lost an irreplaceable figure. I call on Nigerians to pray hard for the repose of his soul," he said.

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According to him, former military president, Ibrahim Babangida also sent his condolence message through him because he could not travel to Kano due to his ill health

"You know the health condition of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, that is why he has sent his condolence message through me. He condoles with you, the governor, the family of the deceased and the entire people of Kano state," Abubakar said.

Sule died in Cairo, capital of Egypt on Monday, July 3, and was buried on Tuesday, July 4.