Nnenna Ijeoma Elendu Ukeje is a Nigerian politician who was the representative for Bende Federal

Constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

Abia State Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Having had a successful career in the private sector, Nnenna was elected to the House of Representatives in 2007, She was re-elected to the position on 29 May 2011 and also served as the Chairman house

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

on foreign affairs. In the 2015 general

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

she was also re-elected to the house of representative and once again appointed as the house committee chairman on foreign affairs.

Background

Ukeje is from Alayi, Abia State and attended Federal Government Girls' College, Owerri,

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

. She also attended the University of Benin,

Edo State Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...

before graduating from the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

with a bachelor's degree in education. Ukeje worked in the

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

management industry. Her father Sunday Elendu-Ukeje was a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

with the

Nigerian Air Force The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is the air branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the youngest branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is one of the largest in Africa, consisting of about 15,000 personnel and aircraft including eight Chinese Che ...

and Nigerian Airways prior to his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

. Her mother,

Roseline Ukeje Roseline or Rose Nonyem Ukeje (born 5 January 1943) is a Nigerian jurist who served as the first female Chief Judge of the High Court of Nigeria. Life Rose Nonyem Ukeje was born on 5 January 1943. She was appointed a judge of the High Court in ...

, served as Chief Judge of the Federal High Court prior to her retirement. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje has experienced discrimination, sexual innuendoes, physical threats and insubordination mainly from male

colleagues Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. A colleague is a fellow member of the same profession. Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and respect each other's abilities to work toward that purpose. A colleague is ...

Political career

Ukeje's initial foray into

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

was her first election in office in 2007 as the Representative for Bende Federal Constituency,

under 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 ...

. She was re-elected in 2011. In 2015 she was one of 15 women members and of the ten from the

People's Democratic Party (Nigeria) The Peoples Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with its main rival, the All Progressives Congress. Its policies generally lie towards the centre-right of the political spectrum. It won eve ...

who were elected to the

8th National Assembly 8th National Assembly may refer to: * 8th National Assembly of France * 8th National Assembly of Laos * 8th National Assembly of Nigeria * 8th National Assembly of Pakistan * 8th National Assembly of Serbia * 8th National Assembly of Slovenia * 8 ...

. The other PDP women were

Eucharia Okwunna Eucharia Azodo Okwunna (born 3 November 1961) is a Nigerian politician. She was a member of the People's Democratic Party and the House of Representatives. In 2015, she was one of 21 female Nigerian senators. Life and career Okwunna was born i ...

, Sodaguno Festus Omoni, Nkiruka Chidubem Onyejeocha,

Rita Orji Rita Orji is a Nigerian-Canadian computer scientist who is a Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology and the Director of the Persuasive Computing Lab at Dalhousie University. Her work is in the area of human–computer interaction with a m ...

Evelyn Omavowan Oboro Evelyn Omavowan Oboro (born 1971) is a Nigerian politician and member of the Federal House of Representative. She represented Okpe, Sapele and Uvwie constituency of Delta State in the 7th and 8th National Assembly. She was elected on the platfor ...

, Beni Butmaklar Langtang, Omosede Igbinedion Gabriella, Fatima Binta Bello and Stella Obiageli Ngwu. On 12 May 2021, the Deputy Chairman of Bende Local Government Area Promise Uzoma Okoro chaired a Grand civic reception in her honour at the Bende Local Government

Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

. Abia State Governor

Okezie Ikpeazu Okezie Victor Ikpeazu (born 18 October 1964) is a Nigerian politician who serves as the Governor of Abia State, in office since 29 May 2015. He was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. He was re-elected as the governor of Ab ...

who graced the event as Special guest described her as the priceless jewel of Abia Politics. The Speaker of the 7th Abia State House of Assembly Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji on his part said that the Official Peoples Democratic Party will bounce back in Bende with the return of Ukeje. Additionally, she has been a vocal supporter of affirmative action and gender parity. During her time in parliament, she played a pivotal role in the passing of several important bills, including those related to public officers protection, minimum wage, broadcasting anti-trust legislation, anti-money laundering and terrorism, asset forfeiture in criminal matters, foreign assistance in criminal matters, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and non-discrimination against people living with disabilities.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ukeje, Nnenna Elendu Living people 1969 births University of Benin (Nigeria) alumni University of Lagos alumni People from Abia State 21st-century Nigerian politicians