The government of Bayelsa State stated today that Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo has died. In his honor, the state will be in mourning for three days.
The Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Orientation, and Strategy, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, signed a statement today saying that the government was “deeply saddened and shocked” by Ewhrudjakpo’s death.
It is with great sadness and sorrow that the Bayelsa State government announces the death of Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, Ph.D., on Thursday, December 11, 2025, at the age of 60.
“The deputy governor was busy doing official business earlier in the day. The statement said, “He fell down while going to a scheduled meeting in his office and was taken to the Federal Medical Centre in Yenagoa, where he was later pronounced dead.”
Governor Douye Diri then ordered a three-day state of mourning, starting on Friday. He told everyone to fly their flags at half-mast.
“Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State, has declared a State Mourning for three working days in honor of the late Deputy Governor. This mourning period will begin today, Friday, December 12, 2025.” All flags should be at half-mast. The administration remarked, “His death is not only painful; it is a great loss for the people and government of Bayelsa State and the nation.”
Diri sent his sympathies to the deputy governor’s wife, Beatrice, their children, the Ewhrudjakpo family, the Ofoni Federated Community, Henry Seriake Dickson, and the people of the state.
He asked God to give “the family and the whole State” comfort and strength.
“Hero of Political Integrity”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced Ewhrudjakpo’s death on Thursday night after a lot of people were worried when they heard he had slumped in his office.
The Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee called the revelation “shocking” in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong.
“This terrible news has left the National Working Committee and all of our party’s members, especially our loyal members in Bayelsa State, in deep sorrow,” it stated.
The party called him “a principled and consistent politician” and said, “He was a person of conviction, not convenience; a leader whose life was based on belief, integrity, and strength of character.”
The PDP sent its condolences to the administration and people of Bayelsa State and prayed for his soul to find peace.
Life, Career in Politics
Ewhrudjakpo was the deputy to Governor Douye Diri from 2020 till he died.
In the 2019 Bayelsa governorship election, he was chosen as a running partner. In 2023, he was re-elected with Diri.
His death happens at a time when there is a lot of political tension in the state.
The deputy governor recently went to the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the Bayelsa State House of Assembly from trying to impeach him because he stayed in the PDP after Governor Diri switched to the APC in October.
Governor Diri has said that he would not force his deputy to join the party in power.
Ewhrudjakpo was born on September 5, 1965, he was a lawyer and a great public worker.
He was the Senator for Bayelsa West from 2019 to 2020 and the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, where he was in charge of important projects like the Bayelsa International Airport.
He was a good student and earned a Diploma in Community Health, a B.Sc. in Secretarial Administration, an MBA, an LL.B., and a PhD in Human Rights and Labor Law.
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