Dr Aminu Yusuf Wushishi, chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), has died at the age of 66, eight months after assuming office as the commission’s eighth substantive chairman.
Yusuf died on Friday, 28 August 2026. His death was confirmed by his Special Adviser on Media, Stanley Nwosu, who said the NPC chairman died after a brief illness.
“Yes, it is true. The NPC chairman died after a brief illness,” Nwosu told Vanguard.
Reports said news of his death reached Minna, the Niger State capital, around the time of the Friday Juma’at prayer. Details of his funeral arrangements were not immediately available.
Yusuf was born on 15 April 1960, in Wushishi, Niger State. He was appointed NPC chairman by President Bola Tinubu in October 2025 and sworn in on 2 December 2025. The Senate had earlier confirmed his nomination alongside two federal commissioners.
Before his appointment, Yusuf served as Special Adviser on Political Affairs to former Niger State Governor Abubakar Bello from 2019 to 2023.
He also served as Executive Chairman of Wushishi Local Government Area, was a member-elect of the Niger State House of Assembly and sat on the board of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) between 2005 and 2007.
In 2022, he served as Assistant Director, Grassroots Mobilisation (North Central), of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council. Before joining the NPC, he was National President of the Niger State College of Education Alumni Association, Minna.
Yusuf was also involved in community development initiatives, including serving as co-chairman of the Senator Abubakar Sani Bello Skill Acquisition and Development Committee, where he worked on programmes targeting women and youths in Niger North Senatorial District.
Yusuf assumed leadership of the NPC at a time when the commission was pursuing reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s demographic data and civil registration systems.
At his inauguration, he pledged to reposition the commission as a globally respected data institution anchored on integrity, technology and professionalism.
His seven-point reform agenda received the backing of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which described it as “apt, visionary, and transformational” and pledged support for the commission’s work ahead of the next census.
Yusuf’s death comes less than nine months after he took over from Nasir Isa Kwarra, whose tenure ended in October 2025. Muhammad Usman Dattijo, the federal commissioner representing Niger State, served as acting chairman between Kwarra’s departure and Yusuf’s swearing-in.
The NPC has yet to announce arrangements for Yusuf’s burial or disclose further details about his death.
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