Rivers Senator Barinada Mpigi dies at 64, Fubara mourns
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Senator representing Rivers Southeast, Barinada Mpigi, is dead.
Mpigi passed away in the early hours of Thursday at the age of 64 after a prolonged illness.
The late Senator was a loyalist of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike.
On Thursday, Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, expressed shock and sadness following the sudden death of Senator Barinada Mpigi.
The governor described Mpigi as a brother, a consummate politician, and one of the leading lights in the state.
Fubara, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Onwuka Nzeshi, said that Mpigi died at a critical time when his services were still needed by the people of Rivers.
The governor commiserated with his immediate family, the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, and the Senate at large, asking them to take solace in the fact that the deceased lived a good life and positively impacted the people.
Mpigi’s colleague at the Senate, Ogoshi Onawo, who represents Nasarawa South Senatorial District, confirmed the development during a committee meeting with the Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa.
The minister had appeared before the committee to defend her ministry’s 2025 budgetary allocation.
At the commencement of the meeting, Mr. Onawo, who chairs the committee, directed participants to observe a minute’s silence in honour of the late lawmaker.
Until his death, Mpigi served as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Works. He had battled illness for several months.
He was first elected into the National Assembly in 2011, representing the Eleme/Tai/Oyigbo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. He was later elected to the Senate in 2019 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he remained a member of the opposition until his death.
With his passing, Senator Mpigi becomes the fourth senator to die since the inauguration of the 10th Senate in June 2023. Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra South) died in July 2024; Okey Ezea (Enugu North) passed away in November 2025; and Godiya Akwashiki (Nasarawa North) died in December 2025.
