Adedokun Waliyu 
The president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has condoled the family and colleagues of the National Welfare Officer of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Friday Nwosu, who died in Abuja on Thursday evening.
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.
In a condolence message issued by his media office on Friday, Tinubu lamented that Nwosu’s death had left a gaping hole in the party.
He said, “I received with shock and grief the news of the sudden death of Chief Nwosu. He was a dedicated party man and a leader who paid his dues for the success of the party.
“I join friends and family in grieving this sudden loss of a man who had worked so well for our great party. His sacrifices and contributions to the growth of democracy and our party will be cherished for a long time.”
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 wrest 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.
But the late APC national welfare secretary appealed to the warring parties to sheath their sword and work for the victory of the party in the state.
He also begged Ogah to collapse his political structure and work together with Emenike.
