Yahya Saidu

Yahya Saidu died in the early hours of Friday, 9 October 2026, less than three months after taking office. His age and the cause of death were not made public.

His death was confirmed on Saturday 10 October in a condolence statement from Aliyu Boya Wakili, member of the House of Representatives for the Fufore/Song Federal Constituency, who said his passing was a great loss to the people of Fufore and Adamawa State and that it had left a huge vacuum in local administration and in the PDP in Adamawa. Condolences came from across the state's 21 local government areas. Burial arrangements according to Islamic rites were to be announced by the family.

Little has been published about Yahya Saidu's early life, including his date and place of birth. He was known locally as Dr Yahya Saidu Fufore and held the traditional title Dan Galadima Fuunange. Local reports described him as a businessman, philanthropist and grassroots mobiliser in Fufore Local Government Area, Adamawa State, who had supported people in the area for years before he stood for office.

Saidu was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for chairman of Fufore Local Government Area in the Adamawa State local government election of 13 June 2026. At the party's campaign flag-off in Fufore in June 2026 he promised to bring positive change and to carry everyone along regardless of ward, ethnic group, faith or party.

He won the election and was sworn in as Executive Chairman on 15 July 2026. The council's previous elected chairman, Alhaji Shuaibu Babas, had died in office on 23 April 2025, after which Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri swore in Peace Samson Audu as interim chairperson.

Saidu was a Muslim. Tributes described him as a philanthropist and as a leader who sought support across party, faith and ethnic lines. Details of his family have not been published, beyond reports that he left a family who would announce his burial.

Saidu became the second chairman of Fufore Local Government to die in office in less than two years, after Shuaibu Babas in April 2025. A political commentator in Adamawa, Abu-Taqiyah Zumo, said the two deaths forced a deep reflection on the fleeting nature of power and life, and that what would be remembered was not the title a person held but the lives they touched.