From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has described the late former Deputy President, Ibrahim Mantu as a great nationalist who believed and worked for the oneness of an equitable and prosperous nation.
In a condolence message to the family of the late politician, Senator Ngige said Nigeria “lost a detribalized politician whose contributions in Nigeria’s political development, perfectly fitted into a pan-national paradigm.
Ngige said he knew Mantu since the early 90’s in Lagos, when he was one of the leaders  of the Liberal Convention, one of the political associations that later merged into  the National Republican Convention.
He said “Years  later in 1998 after the  formation of  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Mantu  joined us from the All Progressives Party (APP) to assist Late  Solomon Lar who became the first National Chairman of the party, after late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the Chairman of the Steering Committee handed over to contest the party’s presidential ticket.
“Mantu made friends across the length and breadth of Nigeria and was home across tribes and religions; attributes that mould a  multi-ethnic society like ours.
“The fact that he chose to remain in the Peoples Democratic  Party under which he was twice,  elected Senator and Deputy Senate President,  even after the PDP has been out of power at the Centre and in his native Plateau State for over six years, against the bandwagon wave of encampments, shows  in no uncertain terms, his inner thought and principled politics that provides fresh air for a viable democracy. Ibrahim Mantu proved this to the consternation of many.
May God Almighty grant eternal rest to his soul and give comfort to the family he left behind.”