A former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has reportedly died in London, United Kingdom.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the ex-governor passed away after suffering “severe heart failure and complications related to urinary cancer.”
A senior family source confirmed the development on Sunday night, describing his death as sudden despite months of deteriorating health.
“His health had been declining in the past months, but the final collapse came suddenly. We are devastated,” the family source told Sahara Reporters.
Medical personnel at the hospital where he was admitted also confirmed that Obiano was in intensive care before his condition worsened.
“He fought till the very last moment,” a hospital official disclosed.
Until his death, Obiano was standing trial over an alleged N4 billion money laundering case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Federal High Court in Abuja had, in July, fixed November 25 for continuation of his trial, after the matter was reassigned to Justice Mohammed Umar.
The EFCC accused him of misappropriating state funds during his tenure as governor between March 2014 and March 2022.
At the last hearing, EFCC’s counsel, Sylvanus Tahir (SAN), presented witnesses, including a former commercial bank official, Ugochukwu Otubelu, who testified on how he managed the security vote account linked to the former governor.
Otubelu, now a businessman, said the signatories to the account were Obiano’s former Principal Secretary, Willy Nwokoye, and the government’s Accountant, Theophilus Nweze.
He told the court he interfaced with them “daily and weekly” while processing transactions related to the security vote.
Obiano governed Anambra State from 2014 to 2022 and handed over to the current governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo.
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