Chief Chijioke Nwakodo, the Chief of Staff to Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia is dead.

Nwakodo, 56, died in a London hospital on Thursday evening, his younger brother, Mr Obidike Nwakodo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Umuahia.

Nwakodo further said that the news of his death was communicated to the family on Thursday evening.

He said that arrangements were on to formally convey the message of his death to the governor.

NAN learnt that Nwakodo, a father of two, was appointed Chief of Staff to the governor on June 3, 2015.

Nwakodo, a politician and businessman, was born on March 29, 1961.

He was a one-time chairman of Umuahia North Local Government (1999 to 2002), where he was nicknamed “Zero allocation”.

The deceased also served as the chief economic adviser to former Gov. Theodore Orji.

When NAN visited his residence, his younger brother, Obidike, was seen receiving calls from sympathisers, who trickled into the house of the deceased to confirm his death and to offer sympathy. (NAN