Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, whose election marked the country's first peaceful transition of power from one civilian to another, has died with his wife Turai at his side following a debilitating illness that sparked a leadership crisis in Africa's most populous country.

Yar'Adua's death Wednesday comes almost three months after his vice president assumed control of Africa's most populous nation.

An official said Yar'Adua, a Muslim, will be buried before sundown Thursday afternoon.

Goodluck Jonathan, the country's acting president, will run for the presidency during the next election scheduled to be held by April 2011.