Reported by: L . Imafidon | Edited by: Henry Owen
Former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has died in London at the age of 70 after a prolonged battle with illness, his family confirmed on Tuesday.
A senior family member described the final moments as sudden and devastating. “His health had been declining in the past months, but the final collapse came suddenly. We are devastated,” the source said.
Medical officials in London also disclosed that Obiano had been in intensive care before his condition worsened. “He fought till the very last moment,” a hospital insider revealed.
Family sources said the former governor had been managing severe heart failure and complications related to urinary cancer, conditions that had progressively weakened him in recent months.
Obiano’s death comes just weeks before he was expected to return to Nigeria for his trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja. The court had fixed November 25 for the commencement of proceedings on a nine-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing him of laundering N4 billion during his tenure as governor.
At the last hearing in October 2024, EFCC’s lead counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, presented its third prosecution witness, former bank official Ugochukwu Otubelu. The witness told the court that he processed transactions linked to the state’s security vote account under Obiano.
“I managed transactions for the security vote account on behalf of Obiano’s administration,” Otubelu testified, naming Principal Secretary Willy Nwokoye and Accountant Theophilus Nweze as the signatories to the account. He said he worked closely with both officials to facilitate daily and weekly financial operations.
Obiano served as governor of Anambra State from March 2014 to March 2022, leaving office amid allegations of financial mismanagement that culminated in the charges brought against him. His case was recently reassigned to Justice Mohammed Umar, who was expected to preside over the November 25 proceedings.
His death brings an abrupt end to the ongoing legal battle and marks a significant turning point in one of the most closely watched corruption cases involving a former state governor.
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