ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The immediate past Bayelsa state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) retired Col. Sam Inokoba whose defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose defection Nineteen days caused a stir has died.
Inokoba, aged 67 years was said to have slumped and died in Lagos while on a private visit to his family on Wednesday.
Although, information about how he died is still sketchy, insinuations flying around political circles has it that he may have died of food poisoning, while others claimed that the deceased chairman’s health was frail and that he had been a regular visitor to various hospitals abroad.
Inokoba only procured his Expression of Intent and Nomination Forms at the APC secretariat in Abuja to contest the governorship election primaries of the party on Monday, barely 24 hours before he died.
Inokoba, a political loyalist of former President Goodluck Jonathan, had been at loggerheads with Governor Seriake Dickson over the control of the PDP in the state until he was suspended by the state chapter of the party.
All efforts by Dickson and the party at the state level to remove him proved abortive until he defected from the party three weeks ago.
According to his son, Waripamo Inokoba, “my father slumped at about 2am in the early hours of Wednesday and was confirmed dead before he was taken to the hospital. Some of our people are on their way to Lagos to bring back his corpse.”
The Inokoba family, in a terse statement signed by the deceased elder brother, Clee Inokoba and first son, Waripamowei Inokoba, confirmed the incident.
One of the early sympathisers to the house, a former member of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Indutimi Komonibo, in his condolence message in a register opened at the home of the deceased, stated that “You are a great loss to us. Hard to believe. But no one can question God.”
The Bayelsa State Government in its condolence expressed shock over the demise of the former state PDP chairman. According to a statement issued by the Chief Press Secetary to the Governor, Mr. Daniel Markson-Iworiso, “the death of Retired Colonel Inokoba is sad and a painful loss to the State.”
“He will greatly be missed by his family and close associates especially the political class. We pray that God grant the family the fortitude with which to bear the irreparable loss as well as grant his soul enter all rest. We assure the family of the government’s preparedness to support and participate in the rites of passage for the late Col. Inokoba”.
Also reacting to the death, the former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, described Inokoba as a great community leader and an intelligent politician whose contributions to society would be missed by the whole Bayelsa and, indeed, Nigeria.
In a statement by his media adviser, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, Sylva said Wednesday’s death of Inokoba had left a vacuum that would be impossible to fill.
Sylva, who is also the state’s APC leader, stated, “The news of the death of Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd) was a terrible shock to me, my family, and the entire All Progressives Congress family both in Bayelsa State and Nigeria, in general. We share the grief of his family and friends.
“Inokoba was not only close to me, personally, but as a new convert to the current change agenda in Bayelsa State, we shared dreams of a better state, thoughts about the challenges ahead, and regrets about the condition of things in our state. He leaves a vacuum that can never be filled. His intellect, political sagacity, insight, and passion for the state, the Ijaw nation, and Nigeria, generally, were wonderful qualities that we cherished.
“Inokoba was a true leader, a successful family man, and a great community leader, and a retired soldier. Our thoughts are with the bereaved family in this time of grief. Inokoba will be missed by all of us.”
The former governor, however, said that the people of Bayelsa State would take solace in the political and communal legacies left by Inokoba.“We know that the memory of Inokoba will serve as an inspiration to all Bayelsans that knew him,” Sylva stated.