The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has reportedly passed on hours after slumping in his office inside Government House, Yenagoa.
Ewhrujakpo, who was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Yenagoa, could not make it after medics tried their best to resuscitate him.
The deputy governor was said to have stepped out of an ongoing meeting in the conference room of his office when he collapsed.
He hailed from Ofoni, an Urhobo community in Sagbama local government area in the state.
He was a senator representing Bayelsa West senatorial district before he was elected deputy to Governor Duoye Diri.
Born September 5th, 1965, Ewhrudjakpo was also the commissioner for works under the administration of former Governor Seriake Dickson.
Multiple sources, including relatives of the deceased, confirmed the passing of the Urhobo-born lawyer and politician. He was the first Urhobo to hold such a position in the state.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Government has remained mute despite the controversy surrounding the reported passing of the state deputy governor.
The spokesperson to Governor Diri, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, when contacted on Thursday, promised to revert to our correspondent with information surrounding the health of the deputy governor, but he had not done so at the time of filing this report.
But the media consultant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Lere Olayinka, also confirmed the passing of the Bayelsa deputy governor.
A top aide to the late Ewhrudjakpo also confirmed the development, but said the deputy governor’s passing would be officially announced by the state government.
Ewhrudjakpo’s sudden demise has thrown the people of Bayelsa, especially the Ijaw and Urhobo people of the Niger Delta mourning.
