Senate Suspends Plenary to Honour Late Chukwumerije

*Burial takes place May 22nd

The Nigerian Senate, on Tuesday, adjourned plenary as a mark of honour for the late Chairman of the Committee on Education, Uche

Chukwumerije, who died at the weekend.

Chukwumerije died after a long battle against lungs cancer. Senate President, Mr. David Mark, described late Senator Chukwumerije as a national hero, who was pan-Nigerian in all ramifications.

Mark, who said this when he paid a condolence visit to the family of the deceased at his house, in Abuja, said the late Senator was a nationalist and an unrepentant crusader for the respect for human rights and rule of law.

He pointed out that late Chukwumerije was astute, firm, fearless

and a voice for the voiceless, adding that he was an advocate of the masses, who stood for justice, equity and fairness to all.

He also announced that the Senate had set up a burial committee to liaise with the family, in order to give him a befitting burial.

Mark stated that Chukwumerije was an intellectual of a very high standing, as well as a parliamentarian par excellence, who contributed, immensely, for the success of the 5th, 6th and 7th Senate.

Senator Chukwumerije, he stressed, was a patriot in every sense of it saying “he left a positive legacy that the family, Abia state and the nation can always be proud of.”

Responding on behalf of the family, the eldest son of the late

Senator, Chidi Chukwumerije, noted that his father was a great nationalist, who loved Nigeria.

“My father was a voice for the voiceless and a defender of the oppressed. He was a true Nigerian and a proud son of Africa. His works in the Senate meant many things to him, because that was the theatre, where he articulated his dream for a better nation,” Chidi stated.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased lawmaker has fixed May 22 for his burial at his country home in Iguodo Isuochi, Abia State, after funeral service at Wesley Cathedral Methodist Church.

A letter signed by Chidi Chukwumerije, and read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday,  by the Senate President, revealed that the burial Programme would start with a night of tributes on Wednesday, May 20, at his residence in Abuja, to be followed by wake- keep, on Thursday, May 21 at his family compound in Ngodo-Isuochi, Abia State.