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Former National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief) Edwin  Ume-Ezeoke , is dead.
According to a  statement issued Tuesday  by his son , Prince Chineme Edwin Ume-Ezeoke ,the elder statesman, who served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives between 1979 and 1983, died on Monday at the Fortis Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, India where he was flown for treatment at the age of 76.www.mannastores.com

His death has been described as a great loss to the country especially at this time when his wealth of experience was needed to move the nation forward.
Speaking on the sad event, former Presidential Liaison Officer (PLO), Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, described Ume-Ezeoke as an experienced politician whose death would be felt by all Nigerians.

He said the deceased politician “was a committed Nigerian, a complete gentleman as well as a detribalized Nigerian. I worked closely with him when he was the Speaker of the House of Representatives and I was the Presidential Liaison Officer to President Shagari. We worked closely despite the fact that he was in the NPP and I was in the NPN. We had high regards for each other despite the political differences. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, he was instrumental to the successes recorded in the Second Republic. There was an accord between the NPN and the NPP, but even when the accord broke down. Our relationship did not go down”.

On his part, former Chairman of the ANPP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Harry Akande described Ume-Ezeoke as a great patriot who as a Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1983 was one of the stabilizing factors behind former President Shehu Shagari.
He commended the deceased’s political sagacity and his contribution to the success of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the immediate take off of the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Akande, who was  the  party’s presidential and chairmanship aspirant at various times before he defected to the PDP last year,  described Ume-Ezeoke as a ‘stabiliser’, stating that no matter what opinion one may have of him, “late Ume-Ezeoke remains a great politician and his death to me is a great loss to Nigeria. This is the time we need his wealth of political experience,” he added: “His record as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1979 to 1983 was also a great moment in the political history of the country. That he was a Speaker for four years means that he knows his political onions.  He did his best for the ANPP. “In this time of transformation, this is the apt time that we need his political memoirs. Certainly we will miss him”, he said.

Also speaking, National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Malam Buba Galadima, said  the late Ume-Ezeoke would be remembered as a man of peace who loved the peaceful existence of Nigeria. According to him, “his mark in political party administration is legendry as well as national development”.
  Edwin  Ume-Ezeoke (CFR)  was born on the 8th of September, 1935 in Obiagu, Amichi in Nnewi South LGA of Anambra State, andmarried with six  children

Ume Ezeoke rose into political prominece when he was elected member of house of representative and his leadership quality endeared him to the house members  who subsequently elected him to the exalted position of the Speaker of Representative in 1979. A worthy philanthropist and social crusader who contributed immensely to the development of  Nigeria’s political landscape.