Emmanuel Ibok Essien was elected Senator for the Akwa-Ibom North West District of

Akwa-Ibom State Akwa Ibom is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It borders Cross River State to the east, Rivers State and Abia State to the west and north-west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state takes its name from the Qua I ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

at the start of the

Nigerian Fourth Republic The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. Nigeria adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 29 May 1999. Founding Foll ...

, running on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform. He took office on 29 May 1999. Essien studied Electrical/Electronics Engineering at the College of Technology,

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

(1975 - 1977), the

University of Ife Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, which w ...

(1977 - 1978) and

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, Ottawa, Ontario, graduating in 1982 with a degree in Civil Engineering. He worked with Mobil Producing Nigeria, taught at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, and established an engineering construction company, as well as undertaking large-scale farming. In 2000, he established Ritman Nursery/Primary School and Ritman College and also

Ritman University Ritman University is located in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Ritman University, RU is a privately owned and managed university in Nigeria. Ritman University offers various undergraduate courses/programs. The National Universities Commiss ...

. After taking his seat in the Senate in June 1999, Essien was appointed to committees on Works & Housing, Communication, National Planning, Internal Affairs, Information and Tourism & Culture (vice chairman). He was Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate in 1999. In September 2002, he was a strong supporter of a bill to end the onshore / offshore dichotomy in oil revenue allocation, a change that would benefit Akwa Ibom State. Essien was an aspirant to be a candidate in the 2007 elections for Governor of Akwa Ibom State. As of 2010, he was a member of the PDP Board of Trustees.

References

Living people Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) Senators of the 4th National Assembly (Nigeria) People from Akwa Ibom State Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Carleton University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{AkwaIbom-politician-stub