AGUNWA ANAEKWE, FORMER HOUSE OF REPS SPEAKER, DIES AT 68

AGUNWA ANAEKWE, FORMER HOUSE OF REPS SPEAKER, DIES AT 68

Agunwa Anakwe, former Speaker of the House of Representatives during the short-lived Third Republic, is dead. He died on Saturday after reportedly battling an undisclosed illness for some time.

Law Mefor, Anambra State Commissioner for Information, confirmed Anakwe’s death during a telephone conversation on Monday.

Anakwe, who led the House at just 36 years old under the interim civilian government of Ernest Shonekan in 1992, was remembered for his leadership and principled stance during a turbulent period in Nigerian politics. His tenure ended following the military coup by General Sani Abacha in November 1993.

“He steered the House with a lot of dexterity, wisdom and patience, a situation that saw the House having more stability than its Senate counterpart before the military led by General Sani Abacha struck on November 17, 1993, after the annulment of the presidential election won by MKO Abiola of the SDP,” former Anambra governor Chris Ngige said in a statement.

Ngige described Anakwe as “a close friend and trusted political ally,” recalling their shared efforts to reform governance in Anambra State.

“As Governor, he stood with me in the fight to behead the god-fathers that held Anambra hostage under Gov Mbadinuju resulting in ‘years of the locusts’ situation with unpaid salaries and gratuities for workers, teachers resulting in closure of schools for one academic session; a situation we quickly reversed with restoration of payment of salaries and gratuities as and when due,” Ngige said.

He added that his last visit to Anakwe was in March when the ex-lawmaker was preparing for surgery. “The camaraderie we shared that night and his happiness at seeing us after many months, lifted our spirits not knowing that death, ‘the biggest thief in the night’ was lurking around to steal our friend and brother, Ide Anaocha,” he said.

Ngige mourned his death as a huge loss to Nigerian politics, lamenting the scarcity of “principled, accountable and truthful persons.”