The Senate has held a valedictory session to honour one of its deceased members, late Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu.
Until his death, late Uwajumogu represented Imo North Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.
During Wednesday’s plenary, a total of 34 senators eulogised and relived individual experiences and last moments with the Imo senator who died on December 18, 2019.
They comprise lawmakers on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, who opened the floor for valedictory speeches, described the lawmaker as an icon who had an active and impactful political life.
“Late Senator Benjamin Chukwumeka Uwajumogu was a distinguished colleague who excelled in every facet of his senatorial duties, whether to his constituency or in his committees’ duties, as well as his usually articulate contributions to Senate debates,” he said.
According to Abdullahi, the late senator was a think-tank for several birds of both private and public sectors, including the Nigeria Shippers’ Council.
After the lawmakers took turns to pay their last respect to Uwajumogu, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, also eulogised his late colleague from Imo State.
“Senator Uwajumogu gave a very good account of himself as a human being. Calm, cool, calculated and purposeful.
“He joined us a little bit late in the Eighth Senate, and being the only Senator of APC extraction from the South East, he was close to everyone, especially in the APC caucus and the entire Senate,” Lawan said.
He added, “Every time there was a seeming crisis, he would preach ‘let us unite, let us work for Nigerians who have sent us here’. That was in the Eighth Senate.
“In the Ninth Senate, he was delayed in joining us, so he took his oath of office after the inauguration. He remained the same person up till the last day of the debate in which he participated here.”
Among the lawmakers who extolled Uwajumogu included the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege; Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe; and the Deputy Senate Leader, Ajayi Boroffice.
Others are Deputy Chief Whip, Aliyu Abdullahi; Minority Whip, Philip Aduda; Senator Rochas Okorocha (APC – Imo West); Ezenwa Francis (PDP – Imo East); Ike Ekweremadu (PDP – Enugu West); and Oluremi Tinubu (APC – Lagos Central).
Opeyemi Bamidele (APC – Ekiti Central); Olamilekan Adeola (APC – Lagos West); Yusuf Yusuf (APC – Taraba Central); Biodun Olujimi (PDP – Ekiti South); Michael Nnaji (PDP – Ebonyi South); Gershom Bassey (PDP – Cross River South); and Abba Moro (PDP – Benue South), were also among the lawmakers who paid tributes to late Uwajumogu.
