Robert Ewa, the Cross River State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, has died, according to the governor’s top press secretary, Nsa Gill.
He died on Wednesday evening at the Arubah Specialist Hospital in Calabar, the state capital.
He attended the state’s executive council meeting earlier Wednesday, which was presided over by Governor Bassey Otu.
Mr. Gill told journalists that Ewa contributed to the meeting but then excused himself.
“Ewa died yesterday. He was present at the state executive council meeting. He even contributed during the presentation,” he said.
“A few minutes later, he excused himself, and I think his driver drove him to the clinic. So we never knew that he went to a hospital.
“So it was from the hospital that he went to that news came back to the governor that he had died.”
Gill stated that the governor was shocked by the news and that a press release will be made later.
Ewa was the Boki Local Government Council’s secretary before becoming its chairman.
He also worked as special adviser on community relations and secretary of the Anti-Deforestation Task Force.