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PDP and Atiku React to Ikonne’s Death, an Abia Governorship Candidate

PDP and Atiku React to Ikonne’s Death, an Abia Governorship Candidate
Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, has expressed shock and sorrow over the death of Prof. Eleazar Uchenna Ikonne, the party’s candidate for governor of Abia State.
Just a few days before the scheduled governorship election, Ikonne died on Wednesday morning at the National Hospital in Abuja, according to Jevibe News.
In a statement via his Twitter handle on Wednesday, Atiku described Ikonne as an erudite scholar of repute with vast experience in administration, whose contributions to advancing knowledge within the academic community will be appreciated by generations unborn.
He wrote: “Prof Ikonne was an erudite scholar of repute with vast experience in administration, whose contributions to advancing knowledge within the academic community will be appreciated by generations unborn.
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“I vividly recall my last encounter with Prof Ikonne when he led a delegation of Abia PDP stakeholders to my residence in Abuja. He, Prof Ikonne, was at his intellectual best in the course of the robust discussion that I had with his delegation.”
Also, the PDP, in a statement by its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, on Wednesday, described Ikonne’s death as devastating news.
PDP and Atiku React to Ikonne’s Death, an Abia Governorship Candidate
The statement reads: “Alas our hearts bleed; Prof. Ikonne’s death is indeed a big blow not only to the PDP family but also to Abia State and the nation in general.
“He was a committed patriot, brilliant academician, seasoned optometrist, and excellent administrator, who gave himself to the service of his people and humanity, and for which the people of Abia State were resolved to elect him as Governor of Abia State.
“The National Leadership of the PDP profoundly commiserates with the family of Prof. Ikonne, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, the Abia State Chapter of the PDP as well as the entire people of Abia State and prays to God to console us all and grant eternal rest to the faithful departed.“