By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The National Welfare Officer of the All Progressives Congress and a member of the National Working Committee, Friday Nwosu, has been reported dead.
Nwosu, a chieftain of the party, once contested Abia State governorship election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party before defecting to the ruling APC.
The late legal icon was said to have been admitted in an undisclosed health facility in the Federal Capital Territory before he was discharged on Wednesday.
Nwosu reportedly went back to the same hospital for a routine check up on Thursday where a source confirmed that he relapsed and had to be rushed into the intensive care unit where he gave up the ghost.
“His death has jolted all the NWC members including the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu. I am sure the secretariat will release an official report tomorrow morning(today),” the source said.
As of the time of filing this report, his remains had been deposited at the mortuary.
Effort to reach the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, for reaction proved abortive.
However, the demise of the national welfare officer was reported via the official Twitter handle of the APC at about 8.20 pm.
The statement read, “RIP SIR F.N. NWOSU. Words are not enough to describe the monumental loss brought by the passing of the party's National Welfare Secretary, Sir Friday Nwosu, on the APC family. May his soul rest in peace.”
Nwosu's last official assignment before the presidential and National Assembly elections was a press conference he held on February 10 where he appealed to former Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, and other disgruntled stakeholders to reconcile with Abia governorship candidate, Ikechi Emenike, to wrestle the state from the Peoples Democratic Party.
Ogah, who was also a governorship aspirant, had challenged the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which upturned his candidature.
Delivering judgment on Ogah's appeal, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision delivered by Tijanni Abubakar, held that the former minister's appeal was devoid of merit.
The judgment has brought a bad blood between Ogah and Emenike's supporters, a situation the ruling party feared could make them lose the governorship election in the state.
Addressing journalists, the APC National Welfare Secretary, Nwosu, appealed to the warring parties to sheath their sword and work for the victory of the party in the state.
This was even as he begged Ogah to collapse his political structure and work together for Emenike.
