Former Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Solomon Ewuga, has passed on after a prolonged illness, marking the end of a political career that spanned decades and left a notable imprint on both state and national politics.
The late politician was widely regarded as one of the key figures who shaped Nasarawa’s political journey from the return of democracy in 1999.
His influence stretched from the deputy governorship seat to the federal cabinet and later to the Senate, where he represented Nasarawa North.
Ewuga’s death was confirmed by close family sources in Akwanga and Nasarawa-Eggon, who described him as a dedicated leader whose resilience and courage remained visible even in his final years.
“Senator Ewuga was more than a politician; he was a mentor, a father figure, and a strong pillar of the community,” one family associate told news outlets.
The Guild reports that Ewuga’s political rise began in 1999 when he vied for the PDP governorship ticket against Abdullahi Adamu, who later became the APC’s National Chairman.
Though Adamu secured the ticket, Ewuga was selected as his deputy, eventually emerging as deputy governor after their election victory.
Furthermore, his political journey soon took him to the federal stage when then-Governor Adamu nominated him as a ministerial candidate.
In June 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, a position he held until a cabinet reshuffle two years later.
The late senator would go on to contest governorship races in 2003 and 2007 before switching to the ANPP and later the CPC, where he joined forces with Tanko Al-Makura.
Their alliance proved pivotal in the 2011 election, as Al-Makura defeated then-Governor Aliyu Doma while Ewuga clinched a Senate seat.
Although he lost subsequent governorship primaries, Ewuga remained an influential voice in Nasarawa politics.
Outside politics, he once served as Managing Director of the Nigerian Standard Newspaper and was also a seasoned lawyer.
His later years were marked by personal tragedies, including the death of one of his daughters, a pilot who lost her life in a Cameroon plane crash, and his own kidnapping ordeal, which left him severely injured and immobile for years.
Ewuga studied Political Science at the University of Ibadan between 1974 and 1977 before furthering his education in Mass Communication at Stockholm University, Sweden.
