Senator Barinada Mpigi of Rivers South-East Dies at 64

Senator Barinada Mpigi, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District and chaired the Senate Committee on Works, has died at the age of 64 following a brief illness, a National Assembly source confirmed on Thursday.

Mpigi, a member of the 10th National Assembly, oversaw the influential Committee on Works, which manages federal road infrastructure and related projects across Nigeria.

He began his legislative career in the House of Representatives, first elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2016.

He later moved to the Senate in 2019 after winning an election to represent Rivers South-East on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

During the 9th Assembly, he was appointed chairman of a joint Senate committee set up to investigate crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region — a critical assignment at a time when the country grappled with declining oil revenues and widespread pipeline vandalism.

News of his death filtered into the Senate chamber during Thursday’s proceedings, casting a sombre mood over lawmakers who had gathered for budget defence sessions.

Speaking during the session of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, the lawmaker representing Nasarawa South in the 10th National Assembly, Senator Mohammed Onawo, paid glowing tribute to the late Rivers senator and urged his colleagues to honour his memory.

Lawmakers were subsequently asked to observe a minute’s silence in his honour.