In this report, Titilope Fadare chronicles the demise of eight members of the 8th national assembly who passed away for one health-related reason or another.
The 8th National Assembly is reputed to have made astonishing records, especially in a positive light. They were the first to pass the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) after 17 years of trying passage. They also revealed the breakdown of their budget, which has never been done in previous assemblies. Additionally, the Senate passed 201 bills since its inception in 2015.
Despite the proactive approach of this set of the federal legislature, they, unfortunately, hold the highest number of deceased lawmakers, amounting to a total of 8-three Senators and 5 House of Representatives members.
The lawmaker representing Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency of Nasarawa state, Musa Baba-Onwana, 50, was the first to have been snatched by death on the 17th of March 2016. The cause of Onwana’s death remains unknown. He previously served in the 7th assembly and got re-elected into the 8th assembly.
Four months later, the lawmaker representing Ifako Ijaye federal constituency of Lagos state, Elijah Adewale, 66, gave up the ghost during the early hours of July 20, 2016 in his Abuja residence.
The year 2017 experienced 3 deaths from the 8th assembly. Bello Sani, 51, who represented Mashi/Dvisi federal constituency of Katsina state. He died on February 15 due to several months of illness that led to his eventual death.
On the 23rd of April, 2017, Sen. Isiaka Adeleke passed away reportedly from a heart attack. Before his death, he served as the senate committee chairman on capital market while representing Osun West Senatorial district under the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform. He chaired the committee on INEC in the previous assembly. After a senatorial re-run, he was replaced with his brother, Ademola Adeleke.
A member of the House of Representatives, Abdullahi Wammako, representing Kware/Wammako federal constituency, died after a brief illness on the 14th of July 2017. The first-term lawmaker contested and won under the APC platform.
2018 commenced on a tragic note with the death of a vibrant senator, Ali Wakili, on the 17th of March when he reportedly slumped at his residence in Gwarimpa, Abuja, a day before he attended the wedding of the daughter of Aliko Dangote. Before his death, the APC and Bauchi south senatorial district lawmaker chaired the senate committee on poverty alleviation.
On Friday, March 30, the deputy majority leader of the green chamber, Umar Buba Jibril, also gave up the ghost after a long terminal illness. Jibril, a third-time federal lawmaker, represented Lokoja/Kogi constituency and was a one-time former Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly. Jibril had sponsored the controversial NGO bill.
Senator Mustapha Bukar joined the list of deceased federal lawmakers of the 8th assembly on April 4th. The Kaduna North lawmaker replaced Late Sen. Adeleke as the Chairman of the Committee on Capital Market.
Ahmed Zanna ought to have represented Borno Central senatorial district but died before his inauguration into the 8th Red Chamber. He died in April 2015, 2 months before being sworn into office.
Protracted illness has been identified to be the common cause of these deaths. The federal lawmakers prayed against the reoccurrence of such deaths while the red chamber approved an endowment scheme to assist the families of deceased senators.
Is this a general reflection of the state of the healthcare sector in Nigeria?
