In 2021, Mr Giro was rumoured to have died but he released a video debunking it.

Abubakar Giro, a popular Islamic cleric, is dead.

The leader of Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) in Nigeria, Bala Lau, confirmed the passing of the cleric in a post on his verified Facebook page late Wednesday.

"We all belong to Allah and we all will return to him. Sheikh Abubakar Giro Argungu is dead,

"The deceased (cleric) died after a brief illness in Birnin Kebbi. His remains will be laid to rest on Thursday in God's willing, we will announce the burial time subsequently," Mr Lau said in the Facebook post.

From Argungu Local Government of Kebbi state, the late cleric was popular in Hausa-speaking Northern Nigerian states.

He was in Kano last week Friday where he commissioned a new mosque constructed by a philanthropist, Abdulkadir Rano, in Rano Local Government of Kano.

At the event, he corrected a statement by one of his colleagues in Kano, Sani Ashir, who said opposition politicians challenging the election of Kano governor in court are enemies of the state and prayed for God to destroy them.

But Mr Giro said nothing is wrong for politicians to challenge their opponent (s) in courts.

In 2021, Mr Giro was rumoured to have died but he released a video debunking it.

His death was announced, on Wednesday, barely a year and nine months after his colleague in Kano, Ahmad Bamba, died.