Simon Harry, Nigeria’s Statistician-General has passed away on Wednesday, April 13 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Dr. Harry had been on admission at the Nisa Premier hospital till his passing after a brief illness.
His death was confirmed to ThePunch by the Director, Communication and Public Relations Department, Ichedi Joel, on Wednesday, in Abuja.
Joel said, “It is not a rumor anymore, the SG is dead, he died from an illness.”
Harry’s death is coming barely 48 hours after the agency debunked rumours of his demise.
President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Dr. Simon B.Harry as the Statistician-General of the Federation to head the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in August 2021 after the expiration of the tenure of Dr. Yemi Kale, whose second tenure of five years expired on 16th August, 2021.
Prior to his appointment, Harry was the Director of NBS Corporate Planning and Technical Coordination.
He joined the erstwhile Federal Office of Statistics as Statistician in 1992 and rose to the position of a substantive Director of Statistics in 2019.
Dr. Harry contributed to reform initiatives including the transformation of the then Federal Office of Statistics to the NBS.
The deceased was part of the team that rejigged the Nigerian Statistical System, resulting in the establishment of State Bureaus of Statistics.
May his soul Rest In Peace.
