A former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, is dead.
It was learnt that Mantu died on Monday night in an Abuja hospital after a brief illness. He was aged 74.
A family source in his home town of Mangu, Plateau State, confirmed his demise in Jos on Tuesday
The source said, ” Yes, it’s true. We just received the news of his demise last night at a hospital in Abuja.
“He has been ill occasionally for some time and when he came to Jos last weekend, the illness started again and he was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, he could not make it. We will miss him.”
His close associate and former Commissioner for Information in Plateau State, Yiljap Abraham, who expressed sadness over his demise, described the senator as an open minded communal and national politician who operated beyond religious and ethnic bounds.
“Distinguished Senator Mantu carried himself in great dignity all through his lifetime.
“He was open to all and in his early upbringing in Gindiri; he played the role that touched and connected people. He thought of the general good. He was a politician with charismatic difference. Surely, we will miss him,” Yiljap stated
Before his demise, Mantu was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He had been actively involved in politics, which he made a vocation and served in many capacities and also held many political positions, including the Director-General of the Defunct National Republican Convention, Presidential campaign 1993; National Chairman, defunct Peoples Democratic Alliance, and National Publicity Secretary defunct United Nigeria Congress Party.
In 1999, he was elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Plateau Central Constituency ) under the platform of the PDP and was appointed Deputy Senate President in 2000.
