A former Minister of Science and Technology Ogbonnaya Onu is dead. He was 72.
The Ebonyi State governor Francis Nwifuru; his Imo State counterpart Hope Uzodimma and the All Progressives Congress (APC) confirmed his death in separate statements on Thursday.
Onu died in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Uzodimma said.
“I received with rude shock the news of the death of the former Governor of Old Abia State, and an illustrious Son of our State His Excellency Dr Ogbonna Onu,” Nwifuru said.
According to him, the death is a great loss to the nation.
“It is indeed a sad development to lose a patriotic leader who stopped at nothing to render the best services to his people when he served in different capacities,” he said about the APC chieftain and extended his condolences to the family of the deceased.
“On behalf of the Government and people of Ebonyi State, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the immediate family and pray to God to give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
In a brief statement on its X handle, the APC said Onu a founding member of the party will be “sorely missed”.
“Our great party mourns Dr Ogbonnaya Onu – an elder statesman and frontline progressive politician whose contributions helped to birth the APC in 2013,” it wrote.
He served as minister under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari but resigned to contest the APC presidential primary.
The former minister was Abia’s first civilian governor and in 1999 became the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Party (APP).
But he stepped down for Olu Falae when his party and the Action for Democracy (AD) merged.
