Things to know about Senator Ayogu Eze

Former Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial District and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 gubernatorial election, Senator Ayogu Eze, has reportedly died at the age of 65.

Born on November 23, 1958, Senator Eze represented Enugu North Senatorial District of Enugu State in the senate between 2007 and 2015.

He was said to have died in a hospital in Abuja after a protracted illness.

Eze was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but until his death, the former lawmaker was a member of the APC and one of the chieftains of the party in Enugu State.

Before being elected into the Senate in 2007, Eze served the Chimaroke Nnamani-led Enugu State government as the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism.

He also served as a Special Adviser to Governor Nnamani on Public Affairs before becoming a federal lawmaker.

At the Senate, Eze was appointed chairman of the senate committee on Information and Media, making him the official spokesman of the senate.

During his eight-year stint at the Senate, he was a member of the Constitution Drafting and Amendment Committee that effected some changes to Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.

The former senator nursed the ambition of running for the governor of Enugu State in the 2015 general elections under the umbrella of the PDP.

However, he lost the primary election to the incumbent governor of the state Rt Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

The primary election which was riddled controversies ended in a series of legal actions. However, he lost both at the Appeal Court and at the Supreme Court.

Senator Eze also contested the 2019 governorship election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC but withdrew from the election when the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, omitted his name from the final list of candidates for the election, in the aftermath of intractable contrived intra-party legal tussle.

Again, Sen. Eze headed to the electoral tribunal to contest his exclusion from the election even after the court had restored his name as the party’s Bona Fide candidate but was prevailed upon to stay the matter by traditional rulers and political leaders from Enugu State.