* Nigeria loses a political juggernaut, says Uzodimma
Amby Uneze in Owerri
Senator Arthur Nzeribe, infamous for the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), the mastermind of June 12 annulment is dead.
He died at the age of 83. A family statement issued on Sunday announced Nzeribe’s death.
“While we are pained by this loss, we are proud of this African legend who distinguished himself in various fields, including sports, international business, and politics, and gave the Nzeribe brand worldwide acclaim,” said the family. “We appeal to the public to respect the privacy of the family and the solemnity of this event to enable us to grieve in peace.”
A family source told THISDAY that the septuagenarian only had a domestic accident affecting his hip and was hospitalised in Abuja for 10 days, undergoing surgery.
Meanwhile, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo has mourned the demise of the maverick politician in a statement on Sunday by Oguwike Nwachuku, the governor’s chief press secretary and media adviser.
Uzodimma described the death of Nzeribe as a “big loss to the people of Imo” and Nigeria.
“Senator Nzeribe reportedly died on Sunday at the age of 83, according to family sources, having been born on November 2, 1938,” said the Imo government’s statement.
“Nzeribe will forever be remembered as a political juggernaut in Nigeria,” added the statement.
Uzodimma said his death had robbed Imo and Nigeria of a “seasoned politician and business icon,” noting that Nzeribe died when his “fatherly and statesmanly advice was badly needed.”
On June 10, 1993, Nzeribe attempted to stop the presidential election by relying on a court order ABN got from a midnight ruling from the late Justice Bassey Ikpeme of the Abuja High Court.
The ABN backed the military dictator Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s regime leading to the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, adjudged to be the fairest, freest, and most transparent in the history of Nigeria, won by MKO Abiola.
The governor commiserated with Nzeribe’s family, the people of Oguta, and his associates.
Nzeribe represented the Orlu senatorial zone between October and December 1983 on the Nigeria People’s Party (NPP)’s platform in the Second Republic.
At the return of the Third Republic, he also represented Imo West between 1999 and 2007 as a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member.
Nzeribe was born in Oguta, Imo, on November 2, 1938. He is the Ogbuagu, Oshiji, Damanze Oyimba of Oguta. He attended Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu and Holy Ghost College, Owerri. He got a scholarship from the Nigerian Ports Authority in 1958 to study Marine Engineering in England.
“Indeed, his positive contributions to the political development of our dear nation cannot be overemphasised. He was a great political leader and great political scientist who touched the lives of many who came across him for good,” said a statement by the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL).
