Senate Urges FG to immortalize late Senator Ekarika

Ignatius Okorocha, Abuja

The Senate on Wednesday at plenary urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to immortalize the late Senator Itak Bob-Ekarika who represented Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District between 2003 and 2007.

Accordingly, the Senate urged the Federal Government to immortalize him by renaming the Navy Secondary School in Ikot Ntuen, Ekparakwa, to “Senator Itak Bob Ekarika Naval School.”

Senator Ekarika who comes from the same senatorial district as the Senate President died recently after a brief illness aged 89.

In a motion sponsored by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio and co-sponsored by over 20 other Senators and read on the floor of the Senate by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibril, the Senate noted the transition of Senator Ekarika which took place on October13, 2023.

According to the Senate, the late Senator Ekarika graduated from the prestigious University of Ibadan and later pursued a highly successful career in marketing at the Shell Group, where he rose to the enviable height of Deputy Managing Director and retired in 1985.

The Senate recalled that in Year 2000, the late Senator Ekarika ventured into politics and was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He later contested and won the coveted seat of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District where he diligently served his people between 2003 and 2007.

Among his achievements, the Senate observed that during his tenure, he courageously championed the cause of his constituents including the electrification of Ekparakwa Clan in Oruk Anam LGA, the construction of Ibagwa bridge as well as the building of a Navy Secondary School in Ikot Ntuen, Ekparakwa.

A minute silence was observed in honour of the late Senator Ekarika.