Chukwumerije, a former Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, died on Sunday in a Turkish Hospital in Abuja at the age of 75.He was a three-time senator that represented Abia North, he was elected into the Senate in 2003.Chika Chukwumerije, son of the deceased told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that his father died of lung cancer at exactly 4.30 p.m., on Sunday.“We are trying to organise some things; he died at exactly 4.30 p.m., this evening.“He died here in Abuja and was surrounded by his friends before his last breath.“He has been an inspiration in ways I cannot explain,’’ Chika said.Chika said that burial arrangements would be communicated once it had been concluded.Chukwumerije, elected a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in April 2003, represented Abia North Senatorial District.He served as minister of information in the dying days of the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida and later served in the same capacity in the interim national government of Ernest Shonekan.It will be recalled that Sen. Chukwumerije was rumoured to have slumped and died in 2014 after the legislator lost his return bid to the Senate in a PDP primary election.The rumour was later described as the handiwork of “a few ungodly and irresponsible individuals.”
