A biography of Ibrahim Mantu

Who is Ibrahim Mantu?  

He was a politician who became a former deputy Senate President (2001 – 2007) under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

When was he born? 

He was born February 16, 1947 in Plateau State.

Death

He died on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at the age of 74 . He died at a private hospital in Abuja after nine days in isolation. 

Famous for? 

Mantu was famous for being a Nigerian politician under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party. 

He was notable for being successful before his sojourn into politics. 

Ibrahim Mantu, a former deputy President of Nigerian Senate dies in Isolation

Education

Mantu attended the Gindiri Demonstration Primary School from 1955 to 1961 and obtained the First School Leaving Certificate. He studied on his own to obtain O’ level GCE and Diploma in Professional Salesmanship which facilitated his move to John Holt Ltd. in 1973 as a Trainee-Manager.

Mantu holds a B.A. (Hons.) degree in Political Science from the Washington International University. He was awarded Honourary Doctorate Degrees of Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, University of Jos, Madonna University, Okija and University of Applied Sciences and Management Port Novo, Benin Republic.

Religion 

He was born into a Muslim home and he remained a muslim till death. 

Career 

He worked with the Public Works Department (PWD) Jos, as a Stores Requisition Clerk from 1962 – 1963 before proceeding to the Gindiri Teachers College in 1964. On leaving Gindiri in 1967, he joined the Nigerian Tobacco Company Zaria in 1968 as a Quality Checker. He moved to BEAM, a Division of UAC Nigeria as a Kalamazoo Specialist Salesman in 1971.

He facilitated his movement to John Holt Ltd. in 1973 as a Trainee-Manager.

He was later confirmed as a substantive Manager. In 1976 Mantu became the General Manager of John Holt Ltd. Maiduguri Venture. In 1977 he was promoted and transferred to Lagos as Deputy General Manager, Building Materials Division, John Holt Ltd. He resigned in mid 1977 to join Plateau State Supply Company Ltd. as its first Commercial Manager.

Political career 

Senator Mantu joined politics in 1978. He was elected Deputy State Chairman of NPN in Plateau State in 1980. He was a founding member of the Liberal Convention. Mantu’s overwhelming popularity saw him contesting the National Chairmanship of the N.R.C. in 1990 but was edged out in a surreptitious power play. In 1993, Mantu was the Director General of National Republican Convention Presidential Campaign Organisation. In 1998, he was elected the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct UNCP and was later elected Senator on the platform of the same party. This election was truncated by General Abdusalam Abubakar’s regime. In 1999, Mantu was re-elected in a fresh contest as Senator representing Plateau Central Senatorial district on the platform of the PDP.

On inauguration in 1999, Mantu was appointed Chairman Senate Committee on Information, the position he held till August 10, 2001, when he was elected Deputy President of the Senate. He was appointed Chairman, Joint National Assembly Constitution Review Committee from 2001 to 2003 and 2003 to 2007 respectively.

He was Chairman of Policy Analysis and Research Project (PARP) which metamorphosed into National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS). Though a Legislator, Mantu handled so many executive assignments. Prominent among these were his appointment by President Obasanjo as Amirul Hajj twice (2005 and 2006) and Chairman Palliative Consolidated Committee for Cushioning Measures, the position he used to stop the planned “mother of all strikes” by the Nigeria Labour Congress. He is a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP.

Mantu was the Chairman of the Elders Advisory Council of Goodluck Support Group and PDP Project Reloaded. He is Patron and Chairman of so many Governing Councils of Public and Political Institutions. He has received over twenty chieftaincy titles from highly placed traditional rulers across the country. He was a delegate representing the North-Central Zone at the 2014 National Conference.