Akpor Pius Ewherido (4 May 1963 – 30 June 2013) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

politician. He was elected Senator for

Delta Central Senatorial District Delta Central Senatorial District in Delta State, Nigeria covers 8 local governments which include Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Sapele, Okpe, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Udu and Uvwie Uvwie (/hu-we-ɛ/), is a principal Urban Local Government ...

in the April 2011 national elections, running on the Democratic People's Party (DPP) platform.

Background

Born in

Ughelli Ughelli is a town in Delta State, Nigeria, and one of the 24 kingdoms that make up the Urhobo Nation. It also serves as the headquarters of Ughelli North local government area of Delta State. The city is indigenous to the Urhobo ethnic nation ...

, Ewherido is Urhobo by origin. Born as third child in a family of 8 boys He attended Notre Dame College,

Ozoro Ozoro is a city and the headquarter of Isoko North Local Government area of Delta State, Nigeria. It is one of the two administrative units in the Isoko region of elta State, southern Nigeria. Ozoro had been incorrectly spelt Usoro in some older m ...

and Urhobo College,

Effurun Effurun is a town and the headquarters of Uvwie Local Government Area in Delta State, Nigeria. It is an Urban center, densely populated with different infrastructural development. it borders it's twin city Warri, also serves as an entra ...

, He went on to the

University of Ife Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

where he studied Philosophy. After his National Youth Service, Ewherido became a businessman in

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial ...

. He also studied law at the University of Benin, and was later called to the Bar.

Political career

Ewherido joined the United Nigerian Congress Party (UNCP) during the

Nigerian Third Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi ...

. After the transition to democracy was aborted by

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful ...

, he left politics and returned to business. In 1998, he joined the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) and in April 1999, he was elected to represent the Ughelli South constituency election in the Delta State House of Assembly. He was appointed Deputy Speaker of the House when it convened in June 1999. From 15 May 2000 until 20 March 2001 he was leader of the Assembly. Ewherido was reelected in April 2003, and was Deputy Speaker of the Assembly from May 2003 until May 2007. In the 2006 PDP primaries he was a contender to be candidate for Governor of Delta State in the April 2007 election, but was unsuccessful in the primaries. Ewherido left the PDP in order to compete for the Delta Central Senate seat on the DPP platform. In the DPP primary he was elected the candidate by a narrow margin, winning 125 votes to his opponent's 108. In the April 2011 election, he won 102,313 votes, ahead of Amori Ighoyota of the PDP who gained 85,365 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewherido, Akpor Pius 2013 deaths 1963 births Nigerian Roman Catholics Members of the Senate (Nigeria) Delta State politicians