Chief Dr. Solomon Ogunji, Abia Commissioner for Environment is dead, an official statement on Sunday said.
Ogunji was said to have died in the early hours of Sunday in Aba at the Abia State Teaching Hospital.
He was said to have died after a brief illness associated with high blood pressure.
Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu confirmed his death in a statement.
He said: “It is with great sadness and a deep sense of loss that we announce the demise of a member of Abia State Executive Council and the Honorable Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Solomon Ogunji, who passed away on Saturday, 23rd May 2020, at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba, after a brief illness related to high blood pressure.
“Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who received the sad news with shock yesterday (Saturday) has personally communicated and condoled with the family of the bereaved and is currently in mourning.
“We pray that the Almighty God will give the family of Dr. Ogunji the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss and rest his soul in the bosom of the Lord.”
Speaker Chinedum Orji also mourned the late commissioner.
Orji, in a statement he personally signed, described Ogunji as a loyal party man and someone that served the state meritoriously in various capacities.
The Speaker who went further to state that the state would miss him (Ogunji), prayed God to give the family and others affected by his death the fortitude to bear the loss.
Ogunji, who has been in government in the past 12 years, was regarded as one of the powerful commissioners in the current administration.
He was Special Adviser Political to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and chairman Abia Urban Renewal Committee.
He was also a member of the Abia State COVID-19 task force.
He was 2019 aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Abia South Senatorial District but lost to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe in the party’s primaries.
