By NewsBits
Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the first civilian governor of Abia State and former Minister of Science and Technology under President Muhammadu Buhari is dead. The 72-year-old Onu died on Thursday morning at an Abuja hospital, according to Sahara Reporters.
One of his kinsmen in Ebonyi who confirmed his death, said the former governor had been ill for some time and his family had planned to fly him abroad after the Sallah break.
“He has been sick for some time this year and his family said they would fly him abroad to get better medical treatment for him, but he could not make it till then,” the source said.
After working as a teacher and later as a lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Ogbonnaya Onu started his political career as an aspirant for a senatorial seat in the old Imo State on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He contested for the position of Governor of Abia State in 1991 under the umbrella of the National Republican Convention and won.
He was sworn in as the first executive governor of the state in January 1992 and was the first chairman of the Conference of Nigerian elected governors. In 1999, he was the presidential candidate of the All People’s Party but relinquished the position to Olu Falae after his party merged with the Alliance for Democracy.
