Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh

Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh (Festus Sam Okotie-Eboh), born 18 July 1912 in Jakpa, Western Region (now Delta State), served as Federal Minister of Finance from 1957 through Independence in 1960 and until his death in the January 1966 coup.

An NCNC stalwart from the mid-Western region, he presented Nigeria's first post-Independence budget in 1961 and oversaw the establishment of the Central Bank of Nigeria's operational independence under the 1958 Act. He was a flamboyant figure and a close ally of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa.

On 15 January 1966, Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu's faction of the Five Majors abducted and killed Okotie-Eboh together with Balewa, the Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello, and the Western Region Premier Chief Ladoke Akintola. His body was found near Lagos days later.