Uche Lilian Ekwunife ( née Ogudebe born 12 January 1970), is a Nigerian politician, and member of the 9th

Nigerian Senate The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the Nigerian National Assembly, National Assembly of Nigeria. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's highest legislature, whose power is to make ...

representing the people of

Anambra Central Senatorial District Anambra Central Senatorial District in Anambra State is one of the three Senatorial Districts in the State. It has seven local governments areas. These are: Awka North, Awka South, Njikoka, Anaocha, Idemili North, Idemili South and Dunukofia. There ...

Anambra State Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi St ...

and she is known as one of the most active female senators in the House.

Early life and education

Ekwunife was born on December 12, 1970 in

Igbo-Ukwu Igbo-Ukwu (English: ''Great Igbo'') is a town in the Nigerian state of Anambra in the south-central part of the country. The town comprises three quarters namely Obiuno, Ngo, and Ihite (an agglomeration of 4 quarters) with several villages within ...

Anambra Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi Stat ...

to Emmanuel and Lucy Ogudebe. Ekwunife attended

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. Th ...

and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Business and Accounting in 1993. She went on to earn her

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree from

Nnamdi Azikiwe University Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, also called UNIZIK or NAU in short is a federal university in Nigeria. It consists of two campuses in Anambra State. Its main campus is in Awka (the capital of Anambra State), while its other campus is in Nnewi. ...

in 2002. Ekwunife had a career in banking where she rose to be an area manager. She married a businessperson from Nri community Anaocha LGA. She and Chief Larry Ekwunife have children.

Political career

Ekwunife stood for Anambra governorship election twice unsuccessfully. She was elected as a

representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

in 2007 for

's Anaocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia constituency. She was one of 11 women elected in 2007 who were re-elected in 2011 when the lower house was nearly 95% male. Other women elected included Juliet Akano, Mulikat Adeola-Akande, Abike Dabiri, Nkiru Onyeagocha, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje, Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas,

Beni Lar Beni Lar born (August 12, 1967) is a politician of the People's Democratic Party from Plateau State, Nigeria. She's a member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives from Langtang North, Langtang South federal Constituency of Plateau St ...

, Khadija Bukar Abba-Ibrahim,

Elizabeth Ogbaga Elizabeth Ogbaga is a Nigerian lawyer, registered nurse and politician. She was elected into the House of Representatives of Nigeria in 2007 to represent Ebonyi/Ohaukwu federal constituency. She was elected on the platform of the People's Democra ...

and

Peace Uzoamaka Nnaji Peace Uzoamaka Nnaji (born 28 December 1952 in Enugu State) is a Nigerian politician. She was first elected on the platform of the People's Democratic Party in 2007 and had her second sojourn in 2011 in the Nigerian House of Representatives. Edu ...

. In 2015, she was elected to the

. She was one of the six women 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 ...

. The other women were Rose Okoji Oko, Stella Oduah, Fatimat Raji Rasaki,

Oluremi Tinubu Oluremi Tinubu (born 21 September 1960) is a Nigerian politician who served as the first lady of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and is currently a senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District at the Nigerian National Assembly. She is a ...

and Binta Garba.The 6 female senators in 8th National Assembly
Naij,com, Retrieved 15 February 2016 Ekwunife had won the 2015 election by switching from one political party to the other. Because of this her election was challenged and in December 2015 her seat was declared vacant. Ekwunife was unable to get the support of former political party (The All Progressives Grand Alliance) for the bye-election and as a result Victor Umeh was elected as Senator. .APC panel disqualifies “fair-weather” Ekwunife from contesting Senate rerun on party's platform
21 January 2016, Festus Owete, Retrieved 15 February 2016 She won the 2019 Anambra State senatorial elections under the platform of the People's Democratic Party representing Anambra central Senatorial District, Nigeria. defeating her 2015 rival Victor Umeh who sought reelection

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekwunife, Uche 1970 births Living people University of Calabar alumni Nnamdi Azikiwe University alumni 21st-century Nigerian politicians 21st-century Nigerian women politicians Members of the Senate (Nigeria) Women members of the Senate (Nigeria) Igbo politicians