The death has been announced of former Senate Majority Whip, Sen. Mahmud Kanti Bello at the age of 72.

Bello, who represented Katsina North Senatorial District, died in Abuja Tuesday morning and will be buried in Katsina by 4pm.

A family member, Mohammed Ingawa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the funeral prayer for the deceased would however be held at the National Mosque, Abuja by 2pm.

Kanti-Bello, a prominent member of the then ruling People Democratic Party, was in the Senate from 2003 to 2011.

He dumped the PDP and joined the All Progressive Congress before the 2015 elections but was unsuccessful in his bid to secure the party’s ticket to return to the Senate .

The deceased had served as General Manager of Katsina Steel Rolling Mills for over 10 years and contested for the governorship of Katsina State in 1993 under the defunct Social Democratic Party.