Stella Obasanjo, the wife of the Nigerian President, died yesterday morning after undergoing cosmetic surgery in Spain, according to preliminary autopsy reports released today.

Mrs Obasanjo, who was 59, died in hospital in Marbella after being rushed from the Molding Clinic, a plastic surgery and "aesthetic treatment" centre, when her condition deteriorated after an operation on Friday.

It is unclear what type of surgery Mrs Obasanjo underwent. Nigerian press reports today quoted presidential sources saying that she was seeking treatment to reduce body fat.

An autopsy carried out on Mrs Obasanjo's body revealed a clear cause of death, according to Antonio Garcia de Galvez, director of the Malaga Institute of Forensic Medicine, where the autopsy was carried out.

Dr Garcia de Galvez declined to give any details of Mrs Obasanjo's surgery but said that her autopsy had been court-ordered because her death was of a suspicious nature. Dr Garcia de Galvez said coroners were investigating whether she was the victim of medical malpractice.

The Molding Clinic, located in Puerto Banus, a smart neighbourhood in the Costa del Sol, issued a statement saying it has provided Spanish authorities with all the information they have requested and that the "fundamental causes" of Mrs Obasanjo’s death have not been determined.

According to an interview with Dr Kingsley Ebenyi, the Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, that was published in This Day, a Nigerian newspaper, Mrs Obasanjo underwent surgery on Friday morning. Dr Ebenyi said Mrs Obasanjo was in a good condition immediately after the operation but became unwell on Saturday.

Dr Ebenyi said Mrs Obasanjo was admitted to hospital and that he kept President Olusegun Obasanjo informed of her decline.

"I called him at 3am today (Sunday) to inform him that the first lady’s condition was getting worse," Dr Ebenyi is quoted as saying. "I woke him up from sleep and he said ‘OK' and that whatever the situation is I should let him know.

"This morning I was informed by the hospital that she had died. But I couldn’t call the president to break the sad news to him," said Dr Ebenyi, who informed the president's aides, who broke the news. President Obasanjo then reportedly called King Juan Carlos of Spain to accelerate the autopsy.

The Nigerian First Lady was reportedly planning to represent her husband, President Obasanjo, at an official engagement at the Vatican next Saturday.

In Nigeria, which today began a three-day period of mourning to mark the deaths of 117 passengers and crew in an aircrash on Saturday, there were tributes for Mrs Obasanjo. Politicians praised her commitment to projects for the poor and for children.

"The death of the first lady is a tragic loss to the nation because she has been a moderating influence in the presidency," said Governor Chris Nwabueze Ngige of Anambra States. "To those of us who were close to her, it is an irreparable loss. To our President, it will be the loss of a very friendly and soothing companion."

But Mrs Obasanjo had her critics as well. Earlier this year, she ordered the arrest of the publisher of the Midwest Herald, a newspaper that accused her of organising the sale of 207 government-owned properties to her relatives at knockdown prices.

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