- The rate of death among lawmakers in Nigeria has raised fears in the National Assembly and the country generally
- A recent report has revealed that Nigeria has lost nine lawmakers in three years
- The report said that most of the late members of the House of Representatives died of protracted illnesses
The alarming death rate among lawmakers in Nigeria has become a serious cause for worry and deep reflection in the National Assembly. With the recent death of Mustapha Bukar, the senator representing Katsina north, on Wednesday, April 4, the toll has increase to nine in about three years.
In a mood of mourning, Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, said: “It’s unfortunate that we have to do this time and time again, our prayer to God is that God should preserve all of us members of the National Assembly. I don’t think it’s ever happened like this before, where we’ve had to bury – to my quick recollection – about three senators and five members of the House of Representatives.”
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An analysis by The Cable shows that most of the lawmakers passed on in their 50s, with only three being above 60 years. Moreover, none of them died from accidents, violence or disasters. All deaths were health-related, some coming after long-term sicknesses.
In total, four senators and five members of the House of Representatives have died under the present dispensation.
Ahmed Zanna, elected to represent Borno central senatorial district, died after his re-election bid in April 2015, but did not live to witness his inauguration as a member of the 8th Assembly in June the same year.
In 2012, Zana was linked to Boko Haram when a top leader of the sect, Shuaibu Mohammed Bama, was allegedly arrested in his house in Maiduguri.
Isiaka Adeleke, senator representing Osun west, died at 62 years on Sunday, April 23, 2017 at Biket Hospital in Osogbo, after suffering a heart attack.
The senator and former civilian governor of the state, was referred to as his colleagues as a calm, principled and responsible gentleman.
On Friday, March 16, 2018, Ali Wakili, lawmaker who represented Bauchi south senatorial district, attended the wedding of the daughter of Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man. On Saturday, April 17, he was said to have slumped at his Gwarimpa residence in Abuja.
Until his death, the 58-year-old lawmaker, was the chairman of the senate committee on poverty alleviation and a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He was also a retired controller of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Umar Buba Jibril, deputy majority leader and lawmaker representing Lokoja/Kogi federal constituency in the house of representatives, died on Friday, March 30, 2018 after ‘a long protracted illness’.
The Fifty-eight-year-old was a three-time member of the lawmaker, and a former speaker of the Kogi state House of Assembly.
Elijah Adewale, lawmaker representing Ifako Ijaiye constituency of Lagos state, was said to have slumped and died at the early hours of Thursday, July 21, 2016 in his house in Abuja.
He was reported to have attended the caucus meeting of the House of Representatives in the evening of the previous day, died very early on Thursday morning, the next day.
Bello Sani, lawmaker representing Mashi/Dvisi federal constituency of Katsina state, passed away on Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at the age of 51.
Sani's aide, Abubakar Adamu, reported that his principal had suffered protracted illness for several months leading to his death.
Abdullahi Wammako, a member of the House of Representatives from Sokoto state, died at an Abuja hospital on Friday, July 14, 2017 after a brief illness.
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A first term lawmaker, he represented Kware/Wammako federal constituency. He contested and won the 2015 parliamentary election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The deceased 50-year-old lawmaker was a younger brother to Aliyu Wammako, former governor of Sokoto
Musa Baba-Onwana represented Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency of Nasarawa state, on the platform of the APC. He died on Thursday, March 17, 2016 at the age of 50. The cause of his death was unknown. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 and returned in 2015.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that President Muhammadu Buhari had mourned the passing away of Senator Mustapha Bukar describing it as a “great loss to Nigeria's democracy and the engineering profession.’’
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Source: Naija.ng