A former deputy Senate president, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, is dead.
Mantu died on Monday night in an Abuja hospital after a brief illness. He was aged 74.
A family source in his hometown of Mangu, Plateau State, confirmed his demise on Tuesday
Mantu’s close associate and former commissioner for information in Plateau State, Yiljap Abraham, 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,” Abraham said.
“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.”
Before his demise, Mantu was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mantu served in 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 for Plateau Central Constituency under the platform of the PDP and was appointed Deputy Senate President in 2000.