|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Former C'River dep. gov, brother die in crash
FORMER Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Chief John Oyon Okpa is dead.
He died on Wednesday evening in an auto crash on the Asaba-Benin Expressway on his way to attend a political meeting in Benin City, the Edo State capital. He was said to have flown from Abuja to Enugu.
Also involved in the accident were his younger brother Emmanuel Okpa, his orderly and the driver of the car in which they were travelling.
Information about the accident was hazy last night. His house on Atimbo Road near the Calabar International Airport was quiet. The deceased had, since he lost the 2003 governorship election on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), virtually relocated to Abuja. His wife was said to have travelled overseas for further studies.
The car was described as being "in top speed" when its tyre pulled off resulting in a sommersault. No member of the family could confirm the report, but two commissioners in the state and a former LG chairman said they had heard the news but were in no position to confirm it.
One of the commissioners who toured projects in parts of the state including the deceased's home town, Ofunbuta in Obubra Local Government said "it is better to wait for confirmation from the family''.
Okpa was the state chairman of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the botched Third Republic.
He later became the arrow-head of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), the political machine founded by the late Maj.-Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua in Cross River State.
His political profile rose further in 1999 when he was elected as the deputy governor of Cross River State on a joint ticket with the incumbent governor, Donald Duke.
He enjoyed a cordial working relations with Governor Duke until things turned sour in 2002 en route the 2003 polls.
Said to have fought against the marginalisation of the Central and Northern Senatorial zones in the scheme of things in the state, he fell out with Duke over his ambition to become governor in 2003.
On January 9, 2003, Duke told him to quit his administration for defecting to the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) where Okpa got the ticket to run as its governorship candidate.
Initially, Okpa said he would not resign, but stay on with the flag of the opposition party "until we will take over completely in May 29".
He later had a change of mind, following what he termed "events that are heating up the state system unabated".
He resigned on January 29, 20 days after Duke's request that he should quit.
Okpa's death was received with shock yesterday by associates some of whom said they found it difficult to believe he was dead.
Prince Tony Momoh, a chieftain of the ANPP said he was not aware of the incident.
"I am not aware of it. I am going to find out," he told The Guardian over the telephone.
On his part, Chief Venatius Ikem, the national publicity secretary of the PDP said he had heard about the incident but was yet to confirm it.
Asked if he had heard the sad news and his comments, he said: "Yes I have heard about it but I am yet to confirm it. I am in my house in Calabar right now, I have not confirmed it so I will not comment on it," he said.
|
|
||||||||||||
