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Impeached Abia deputy governor dies
RECENTLY impeached deputy governor of Abia State, Dr. Chima Nwafor, aged 65,
is dead. Nwafor, who was impeached by the Abia State House of Assembly in
controversial circumstances last month, took ill about two weeks ago and
subsequently died at the National Hospital, Abuja in the early hours of
Tuesday.
He was said to have developed a strange illness after the impeachment saga.
Sources close to the Abia politician said that the family suspected foul play
in the death of the former two-time deputy governor.
Nwafor, according to sources, was rushed to the National Hospital after he
went into a comma as a result of the strange ailment. Speaking to the Nigerian
Tribune in a telephone interview, the Assistant Director of Information
Service of the National Hospital, Abuja, Malam Yahaya Sadiq confirmed the death
of Dr. Nwafor.
He declined to disclose the cause of the death of the former deputy
governor. However, Malam Sadiq confirmed that the corpse of the late Dr. Nwafor
was
still at the National Hospital as at press time on Tuesday.
But the government of Abia State could neither confirm nor deny the death of
the former deputy governor on Tuesday.
Media Assistant to Governor Orji Kalu of Abia State, Mr. Sam Hart, who spoke
with the Nigerian Tribune, said that he was only aware that Nwafor was ill.
“I cannot confirm his state to you right now but what I can confirm is that
he has been seriously ill and he even went into a coma a few days ago. As
regards whether he is dead, I cannot say,� Hart said during a telephone
interview.
But the spokesman of Abia Leaders Forum who is also a chieftain of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Evangelist Ekekwe Egu, told the Nigerian
Tribune
that foul play was being suspected in the death of the former deputy governor.
“We suspect that he was killed. He might not be a very popular politician,
some people saw him as a threat and maybe they suspected that he knew too much,
� Egu said.
He also stated that opposition figures in Abia PDP still saw Nwafor as the
substantive deputy governor of the state and would push for him to be given a
state burial.
According to him, the case challenging the impeachment of Nwafor was still
at the appellate court at the time of his death. Nwafor was impeached in a
dramatic fashion last February. He went to an Isialangwa High Court in Abia
State which initially suspended the swearing-in of his successor, Hon. Acho
Nwakamma, but the court later vacated the order.

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