A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Agunwa Anakwe, has died.
Naijaonpoint reports that Anakwe, who led the third House of Representatives during Nigeria’s short-lived Third Republic under the Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, passed away on Saturday after a period of illness.
His death was confirmed by Anambra State’s Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, during a phone conversation with The Cable on Monday.
Anakwe, who was elected Speaker at the age of 36, served from 1992 until November 17, 1993, when General Sani Abacha toppled the Interim Government. During his tenure, he was known for his firm stance against efforts to manipulate the democratic transition process.
He notably resisted pressures for the creation of new local governments, a move he believed was being used to derail Nigeria’s return to democratic rule.
Former Anambra governor and ex-Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, said in a statement mourning the late lawmaker said, “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.
“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 also disclosed that he visited Anakwe in late March when he learnt the former speaker was ill and scheduled for major surgery.
He added, “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.
“His death has left a very big void, difficult to fill because of the dearth of principled, accountable and truthful persons in the murky and dirty waters of Nigerian politics.”