By Aliyu Dangida
Senator Ibrahim Mantu, the former Deputy Senate President, has died. He died in Abuja early this morning, Tuesday. He was 74 years old when he died.
According to family sources, Senator Mantu, who served as the Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate from 2001 to 2003, died at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday after nine days of illness.
The former legislator, who fell ill nine days ago, was treated at home before being rushed to the hospital when his condition did not improve, according to HotPen.
According to the source, he died at the Diff Hospital in Abuja, where he was kept in isolation.
At 2 p.m. today, the late former Deputy Senate President will be laid to rest.
Mantu, a native of Gindiri in Plateau State’s Mangu Local Government Area, was a powerful political figure in Nigeria for many years.
The late politician, who was born on February 16, 1947, began his political career with the now-defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
He ran for Chairmanship of the National Republican Convention (NRC), one of the two registered political parties, during the aborted Third Republic. Mantu was a senior member of the United Nigeria Congress Party during the late General Sani Abacha’s transition period (UNCP).
Mantu joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the run-up to the current democratic dispensation and was elected to represent Plateau Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly on its platform in 1999. Before becoming Deputy Senate President in 2001, he served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information.