The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the National Examinations Council(NECO), Prof. Godswill Obioma died on Monday evening during a short siesta, The Nation can authoritatively reveal.
He was found dead in his bedroom in Minna by his Personal Assistant.
His corpse was evacuated barely two hours after and deposited at the National Hospital in Abuja where autopsy was conducted.
While he was working in Abuja, his family had been staying in Gwarimpa part of Abuja because his wife works as a nurse in the city.
A top source, who spoke in confidence with The Nation, said Obioma might have died of heart attack premeditated by hypertension.
It was learnt a panel had made some recommendations on the outcome of its investigation into activities of NECO under Obioma.
The report of the panel was said to have been forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for action.
But the last minutes of the NECO Registrar gave insights into how he died.
The top source said: “After a trip to Abuja, Prof. Obioma returned to Minna at about 3pm. He was in touch with his Personal Assistant(PA) and informed him that he will be in the office by 4pm after a short siesta.
“At 4pm, the PA did not hear from him. Calls placed to him were not answered. And his driver and other aides could not be of help as they told the PA that the ‘Registrar’ was in his bedroom.
“The PA became curious and went to the house. Upon reaching his residence, the PA went to the bedroom and found him lifeless.
“Notwithstanding, he ensured that the Registrar was rushed to a standard hospital in Minna where he was medically pronounced dead.
“His corpse was later evacuated to the National Hospital in Abuja on Monday evening. A post-mortem in Abuja confirmed that he died of heart failure.
“So, it is incorrect that he was killed in the early hours of Tuesday.”
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