The Nigerian Senate was plunged into mourning on Thursday following the death of Senator Barinada Mpigi, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District and served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works.
A source within the National Assembly disclosed that the lawmaker died on Thursday at the age of 64 after a brief illness. Until his passing, Mpigi was a member of the 10th National Assembly, where he chaired the influential Committee on Works, responsible for oversight of federal road infrastructure and related projects nationwide.
Mpigi’s legislative career spanned more than a decade. He was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2011 and re-elected in 2016, before moving to the Senate in 2019 after winning the Rivers South-East seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. During the 9th Assembly, he chaired a joint Senate committee tasked with investigating crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, a critical assignment amid 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 gathered for budget defence sessions. Speaking at a sitting of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Senator Mohammed Onawo paid tribute to the late lawmaker and urged colleagues to honour his memory. The chamber subsequently observed a minute’s silence.
Tributes also poured in from the House of Representatives. The Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Akin Alabi, described Mpigi as a dear friend and dedicated public servant in a condolence message.
Mpigi’s death comes barely three months after the demise of Senator Okey Ezea, who represented Enugu North Senatorial District in the 10th Senate. With this latest loss, concerns have deepened over the number of deaths recorded among serving members of the current Assembly.
