Updated: Sen. Uche Chukwumerije Is Dead

Senator Uche Chukwumerije is dead. Chukwumerije, a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, died on Sunday in a Turkish Hospital in Abuja at the age of 75. He was a three-time senator that represented Abia North Senatorial District. He was elected into the Senate in 2003. Chika Chukwumerije, son of the deceased, told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview that his father died of lung cancer at exactly 4.30pm on Sunday. Chika said: “We are trying to organise some things. “He died at exactly 4.30pm this evening. “He died here in Abuja and was surrounded by his friends before his last breath. “He has been an inspiration in ways I cannot explain.” Chika also told NAN that burial arrangements would be communicated once it had been concluded. Chukwumerije, elected a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in April 2003, represented Abia North Senatorial District. He served as Minister of Information in the dying days of the military regime of former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, and later served in the same capacity in the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan. NAN recalls that Senator Chukwumerije was rumoured to have slumped and died in 2014 after the legislator lost his return bid to the Senate in a Peoples Democratic Party primary election. The rumour was later described as the handiwork of “a few ungodly and irresponsible individuals”. Our earlier story: The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, is dead. The Senate announced this development on Sunday. Chukwumerije was said to have died at the Turkish Hospital in Abuja. He was 75.