President Bola Tinubu has sympathised with the family of the ex-Governor of Abia State and former Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu, over his sudden death.
News About Nigeria reported that Onu died on Thursday at the age of 72 in an Abuja hospital.
The late ex-governor, who hails from Ụbụrụ in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, resigned from the Buhari administration to contest for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2022 but lost to President Tinubu.
In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the president described the late Onu as a luminous star in Nigeria’s political firmament.
While sympathising with his family, Tinubu praised the late Onu for being an outstanding politician in the founding of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and for playing in the victory of the party in the 2015 elections.
The statement, which is titled ‘President Tinubu mourns Chief Ogbonnaya Onu,’ partly reads, “Most importantly, the President celebrates the life of an accomplished scholar, a first-class engineer; a man of proven integrity, defiant to indiscipline, but ever yielding to the highest standards of rectitude.”
The president also condoled Onu’s friends and associates, the Ebonyi and Abia State governments, and all Nigerians at this time of grieving.
He prayed to God Almighty to grant repose to the gentle soul of this great leader.
Similarly, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has described Onu’s passing as a huge loss to Nigeria.
In a post via his X account, Peter Obi described Onu as a leader who stood for peace and progress of the nation while pursuing justice courageously.
