Former military Governor of Akwa Ibom State, General Godwin Osagie Abbe, Minister of Defence during the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, is dead.

Abbe, who governed Akwa Ibom State between July 31, 1988, and September 5, 1990, and Rivers State between August 1990 and January 1992, died in Abuja on Saturday after a protracted illness.

The retired Major General, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was also a Minister of Interior between July 26, 2007, and July 14, 2009, during the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

An alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, he was born on January 10, 1949, and would have attained the milestone of 75 years on January 10, 2025.

He earned a Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations from Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife.

He was also a graduate of the United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, the Ghana Armed Forces Staff College, and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.

He became General Officer Commanding, GOC, 2 Division, Nigerian Army; Commander, Training and Doctrine Command, TRADOC; and Commander, National War College.

The late Abbe retired in 1999 with the rank of Major General. (Adapted from a Daily Post report)