By Dave Okpogadie, Asaba
A former commissioner in Delta State, Mr Joe Utomi is dead.
Mr Utomi, who was the immediate past Delta State commissioner for Agriculture and a former chairman of Aniocha South Local Government Area, died on Friday evening in Asaba.
The deceased was said to have slumped on Friday, and reportedly passed on before help could come his way.
Utomi, a native of Ubulu-Uku in Aniocha South LGA, became a commissioner towards the end of the first tenureof Governor IfeanyiOkowa’s administration following a minor cabinet reshuffling.
He was said to be one of the pillars of the Peoples Democratic Party’s easy triumph in Aniocha South during the 2019 general elections.
President of Ubulu-Uku Development Union (UDU), Jones Ofunne, confirmed the development on Saturday.
Ofunne, a close ally of the departed politician, expressed shock over the sad incident, describing Utomi as a “man full of life.”
“He was full of life. He was not sick a couple of days back when I saw him. You can imagine my shock when I was called and was told about his death, I quickly told the caller it cannot be true. How can this be? One minute somebody is standing and dancing with friends, the next moment he is in the mortuary,” Ofunne said
One of the deceased’s last assignments as commissioner was a keynote he presented at the Nigeria Agropreneurs Forum (NAF) Agribusiness Summit 2019 in Asaba.
