Nigeria’s former minister of science, technology and innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu is dead.
Onu died on Thursday at a hospital in Abuja after a brief illness.
Aged 72 years, Onu also served as the first civilian governor of Abia State.
He contested and won the Governorship of Abia State in 1991 under the National Republican Convention.
Serving as the first executive governor, he also chaired the Conference of Nigerian elected governors.
In 1999, he was the presidential candidate for the All People’s Party but deferred to Olu Falae after a party merger with the Alliance for Democracy.
He later chaired the All Nigerian People’s Party and was pivotal in the merger that formed the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013.
He was appointed as Minister of Science and Technology by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2015 and was sworn in again on August 21, 2019. He is survived by his wife and children. (vitalnewsngr.com)