A former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani, has said that the late Ogbonaya Onu was displaced from being the President of Nigeria in 1999.
OsunDailyNG reported that Onu, an All Progressives Congress, APC presidential aspirant in the 2023 election, died on Thursday.
Onu, who was the first civilian governor in Abia State, died in Abjua on Thursday
Sani, a former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central Senatoral District in the 8th assembly, while paying tribute to the former minister, said Ogbonnaya “could have been Nigeria’s President in 1999 after he won the APP primaries in Kaduna, attended by the likes of the late Ikemba of Nnewi Chief Ojukwu.
“He was deliberately displaced after a midnight merger with the then AD. The military wanted Obasanjo and Falae.
“The late Chief Onu is one of Nigeria’s most distinguished,decent and disciplined political figures in history.
“He has been an influential figure in Nigeria’s politics for over four decades.A Senator in the second republic,a Governor in the third republic and a presidential candidate, party chairman and minister in the fourth republic.
“He is a rare breed politician who lived as unstained, untainted and unblemished like his white apparel. He was a man who lived and served his country with decorum and impactful anonymity.
“He was a true patriot whose nationalist credentials can’t be faulted by any section of the country. Onu was an unnoticed and unappreciated gentleman and national leader.In words and in deeds, he lived above politics of rancour and controversy.
In 1999, the outgoing military wanted power to shift to the South West. Onu was a simple man.
“His known residence in Asokoro remains the one rented for him by his party, the ANPP, when he was elected its chairman. He remained there throughout his tenure as minister.
May his soul rest in peace.”
