The death has occured of Barinada Mpigi, the senator representing Rivers East in the Senate has passed on, according to reports.
The news of Mpigi’s death first came on social media before it was confirmed by close family sources. He was a fiery politician who held political office since 1999 when the current civilian dispensation came to be.
He was a chairman of Tai Local Government, Commissioner for Sports, Rivers State, Member of the House of Representatives for Eleme/Tai/Oyigbo before becoming a senator in 2019 after defecting from the All Progressives Congress to the People’s Democratic Party.
Though considered a hard politician, many of his constituents speak of him also as one that created impacts on his constituents. He has been credited with pushing for the establishment of the Federal University of Environment Technology in Koroma/Sakpenwa through a bill at the National Assembly and his dogged lobby at the Federal Executive Council.
Though he usually commanded strong presence whenever there were issues in his constituency, he was not quite noticeable in the last few months. When he appeared in public, his frame was frail. Many thought he would have shown much presence at the Federal University of Environment Technology, which recently started academic programmes, but he was hardly seen around the institution.
He hailed from Koroma in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State.
