Five Things To Know About New Ohanaeze President-General, Azuta-Mbata

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has elected former Senator John Azuta-Mbata as  President-General.

The election which took place on Friday in Enugu was witnessed by South-east governors, Peter Mbah (Enugu), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra) and Hope Uzodimma (Imo).

The election of Azuta-Mbata followed the end of tenure of Imo State completed by Nze Ozichukwu Fidelis, who was appointed last month after the death of former PG, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.

Five things to know about the new Ohanaeze Ndigbo president-general

Born in January 1960, Senator Azuta-Mbata was educated up to university level. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Ibadan.

He served as Senator representing Rivers East under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from May 1999 (at the beginning of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic) to May 2007. He was succeeded by Senator George Thompson Sekibo.

While at the Senate, Azuta-Mbata served in various committees including Defense, Works & Housing, Women Affairs, Finance & Appropriation, Information, Special Projects and Local & Foreign Debts.

He also served as a member of the Governing council of Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt.

He, alongside others, including former Senate President Adolphus Wabara and ex- Minister of Education Minister, Fabian Osuji, were charged for involvement in an alleged N55 million budget bribe scam.  However, a panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja quashed all the charges, discharged and acquitted them in June 2010.

Speaking after the election, Azuta-Mbata thanked delegates from different states who voted for him to emerge as Ohanaeze PG.

He pledged to work towards uniting Igbo people and tackling other issues about development of the region.