Christian Onoh
| Christian Onoh | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Anambra State | |
|
In office October 1983 – December 1983 |
|
| Preceded by | Jim Nwobodo |
| Succeeded by | Allison Madueke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 April 1927 |
| Died | 5 May 2009 |
Christian Onoh, popularly known as CC Onoh, (27 April 1927 – 5 May 2009) was a Nigerian businessman and lawyer who became governor of Anambra State in 1983 at the end of the Nigerian Second Republic. He was also the father-in-law of Emeka Ojukwu.
Onoh was born on 27 April 1927 in Enugu Ngwo, in coal country in what is now Enugu State. His father died when he was 8 years old and he was brought up by his cousin Donald Oji. Starting in the late 1940s, he worked as a contractor, then produce inspector and then livestock trader. Using the money from these ventures, he funded his education in the United Kingdom, earning a law degree from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth in 1957.
In 1958, Onoh was elected member, House of Representatives for Enugu Constituency. He later resigned to take up appointment as the first indigenous chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Coal Corporation. From 1961 to 1966 he was on the board of the Nigeria Railway Corporation. During the civil war, Onoh was appointed administrator of Enugu Capital Territory. In 1970 he returned to private life as a lumber merchant. He was a founding member of Club 13, which evolved into the Nigerian People's Party (NPP), but later moved to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He fought unsuccessfully for the Anambra State governorship on the NPN platform in 1979. He was then appointed chairman of the Nigeria Mining Corporation, and in 1982, chairman of the Associated Ore Mines.
Onoh was elected governor of Anambra State in October 1983 on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform, defeating the incumbent Jim Nwobodo of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). The election was marred by widespread intimidation, violence and vote-rigging. The election was disputed, but eventually decided in his favor in the supreme court. Three months after the election, on 31 December 1983, the military assumed control under General Muhammadu Buhari and Onoh was dismissed.
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