Ex-Nasarawa deputy gov, Solomon Ewuga, passes away

Nasarawa State has lost one of its foremost political leaders and elder statesmen, Senator Solomon Akku Ewuga, who passed away recently.

Sources close to the family in Akwanga and Nasarawa-Eggon confirmed his death to Daily Trust on Monday.

A lawyer by profession, Ewuga became a towering figure in Nasarawa politics at the dawn of the Fourth Republic in 1999, when he contested the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Abdullahi Adamu, who later emerged victorious. Following the hotly contested primary, Ewuga was selected as Adamu’s deputy, marking the start of his significant influence in the state’s political affairs.

Following their victory in the governorship election, Governor Adamu nominated him as minister from Nasarawa State, and in June 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him Minister of State for the FCT. He held the position for two years before being removed in a cabinet reshuffle.

Upon returning home, Ewuga again contested for governor in 2003 and 2007. He later defected to the ANPP and subsequently to the CPC, where he joined forces with Tanko Al-Makura to defeat then-Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma in 2011.

While Al-Makura was elected governor on the CPC platform, Ewuga won a Senate seat to represent Nasarawa North in the 7th Assembly.

After serving one term, he made another attempt at the governorship but lost in the primaries.

A veteran journalist, Ewuga once served as managing director of the Nigerian Standard Newspaper.

He endured several personal tragedies in recent years. One of his daughters, a pilot, died in a plane crash in Cameroon. He was also kidnapped and brutally injured, leaving him nearly immobile for many years.

Ewuga earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Ibadan (1974–1977) and later studied Mass Communication at Stockholm University, Sweden.

(DailyTrust)