BREAKING: Popular hotelier, Tahir Fadlalah, is dead [PHOTO]

Tahir Fadlalah, the owner of the popular Tahir Guest Palace in Kano State, is dead.

The Publisher Nigeria learnt that Fadlalah, a Lebanese, died on Thursday. We cannot yet ascertain the cause of his death and his actual age. However, this newspaper gathered that he had been ill.

Late Tahir (left) with Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari

Reacting to Fadlalah’s passing, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Kaduna State, Shehu Sani wrote on his verified Twitter handle on Friday morning: “Just learned of the death of Mr Tahir Fadlalah; a great Kano based Lebanese Businessman and philanthropist. An accomplished man who believed and proudly identified himself with his adopted country in good and bad times. A great loss to Nigeria and the Lebanese. RIP.”

Fadlalah’s hotel, Tahir Guest Palace, is by reputation, the most prestigious, elegant and luxurious hotel in the north of Nigeria.

The hotel, founded in 1994, has been considered an icon for lodges to follow.

Initially opened as Tahir Guest Inn when Fadlallah decided that the city of Kano did not have a suitable hotel to accommodate its people or its visitors, the establishment transmogrified into a hotel which currently has over 300 rooms.

Condolence messages have been pouring in for late Tahir.