The first civil governor of Abia State and former Minister of Science and Technology under Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has been confirmed dead.
The 72-year-old Onu died on Thursday morning at an Abuja hospital.
The incident was confirmed by one of his kinsmen in Ebonyi who 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.
Onu, who hailed from Ebonyi State, was the first civilian governor of Abia State and Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation from November 2015 until his resignation in 2022.
The late 72-year-old former minister contested for the presidential flag of the All Progressive Congress (APC) during the 2023 general election, but lost to President Bola Tinubu.
Onu was a Nigerian politician, author and engineer until his death on the 11th in April 2024.