Senate mourns as Senator Barinada Mpigi representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District dies after a brief illness
The Senate was thrown into mourning on Thursday following the death of Senator Barinada Mpigi, who represented the Rivers South-East senatorial district and served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Works.
The news of his passing was confirmed on Thursday that the lawmaker died at the age of 64 after a brief illness.
Until his passing, Mpigi was a serving member of the 10th National Assembly, where he oversaw the influential Committee on Works, responsible for legislative oversight of federal road infrastructure and related projects across the country.
His legislative career began in the House of Representatives, where he was first elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2016. He later advanced to the Senate in 2019, winning the Rivers South-East seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and was reelected in 2023.
Hailing from Tai Local Government Area and of Ogoni extraction, the late senator was widely praised by constituents for his education-focused interventions, including scholarship schemes and postgraduate grant programmes aimed at expanding opportunities for young people in his district.
During the 9th National Assembly, Mpigi chaired a joint Senate committee that investigated crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, a critical assignment at a period marked by falling oil revenues and widespread pipeline vandalism.
The news of his death casted a sombre mood over the ongoing budget defence proceedings as Senator Mohammed Onawo during a session of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism paid tribute to the late lawmaker and urged colleagues to honour his memory. Lawmakers subsequently observed a minute’s silence in his honour.
Tributes also came from the House of Representatives. Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Rep. Akin Alabi, wrote on X: “Good night, my dear friend. Rest in peace, Senator Mpigi Barinada. Sen Mpigi represented Rivers South-East in the Senate.”
Mpigi’s death comes barely three months after the passing of Okey Ezea of Enugu North, underscoring the spate of losses suffered by the Senate in the current Assembly.
With his passing, the Senate has again been confronted with the loss of a serving member, prompting renewed reflection on the service, contributions, and legacy of its lawmakers.
