He was 86.

A former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, is dead, the family has announced.

Mr Ezeife died at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, according to a statement on Friday by Rob Ezeife, on behalf of the family.

"On behalf of the Ezeife Dynasty of Igbo-Ukwu, I wish to announce the promotion to glory of our most distinguished son, 'Okwadike', Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, CON, a former federal permanent secretary, a former governor of Anambra State, a former political adviser to the (an ex-) president and former presidential aspirant," the statement said.

The statement said details of his burial arrangements will be announced in due course.

2023: We are ready to kneel to get support from other regions for South-east - Ezeife

Born on 20 November 1937, Mr Ezeife was elected governor of Anambra State on the platform of the Social Democratic Party in 1992 during Nigeria's Third Republic.

The former governor died at the age of 86.

Late Ezeife at a glance

Mr Ezeife hailed from Igbo-Ukwu, a community in Aguata Local Government Area of the South-eastern state.

He served as governor of Anambra until November 1993 when former Nigerian military ruler, Sani Abacha, seized power at the centre.

In 1999, he was appointed a special adviser on political matters by ex-Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, at the beginning of the country's Fourth Republic.

Mr Ezeife did not attend secondary school, but taught himself through correspondence courses, qualifying for university admission.

He obtained a bachelor of science degree in economics from the University of Ibadan and his master's degree and doctorate from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States of America in 1972.

He served as a school headmaster and later a lecturer at Makarare University College, Kampala, Uganda.