Francis Ogbonna Erishi Nwifuru (born 25 February 1975) is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who is the current

governor of Ebonyi State Ebonyi State, Nigeria has been led by governors and administrators since its creation in October 1996 from the old Abakaliki division of Enugu State and old Afikpo division of Abia State by Abacha's government. See also *States of Nigeria *L ...

since 2023. He previously served as speaker of the

Ebonyi State Ebonyi () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia Stat ...

House of Assembly from June 2015 to May 2023. He hails from Oferekpe Agbaja in Izzi local government area of Ebonyi State. Nwifuru represented Izzi West constituency at the

legislature between 2011 and 2023. He was the Deputy Chief Whip of the 4th

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

(2011–2015). During that period, he served as chairman Ebonyi State House of Assembly Committee on Lands, Survey, Urban Development and Environment. His journey into the State House of Assembly was under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), until 2020, when he moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Early life and education

Nwifuru was born into a polygamous family of Chief and Mrs Nwifuru Nwamkpu. He got enrolled into Oferekpe Agbaja Community Primary School in the year 1991. He continued his education at the Community Secondary School, Nwofe Agbaja in the year 1999. His educational activities weren't smooth-sailing. For a fact, he attended school only at intervals and joined his brothers in rearing of their father's numerous cattle. Upon concluding his post-primary education, Ogbonna was christened 'Francis' after

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

as a Catholic. He enrolled into Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, to study

Building technology Architectural engineering or architecture engineering, also known as building engineering, is a discipline that deals with the engineering and construction of buildings, such as environmental, structural, mechanical, electrical, computational, e ...

and Wood Work. Nwifuru received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Salford University, Manchester, United Kingdom in June 2021.

Career

In 2007 he ran for his state

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in the

House of Assembly, but lost. He was later appointed as an

Ex-Officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''List of Latin phrases (E)#ex officio, ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the off ...

State Executive Member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Ebonyi State. In March 2011, he took a second shot, won the election to represent Izzi West Constituency at Ebonyi State House of Assembly. In that same tenure, he became the Deputy Chief Whip and chairman House Committee on Lands, Survey, Urban Development, and Environment. He was re-elected in 2015 as 5th speaker of the Assembly. He was also re-elected for same positions in 2019; hence becoming the only member to have returned as a two-time Speaker in the history of Ebonyi State House of Assembly. In 2020, he was elected as the National vice-chairman South East Conference of State

Legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

s of

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, ...

. As the

flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

of the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

during the 2023 Ebonyi gubernatorial election, Nwifuru garnered a total of 199,131 votes cast across the 13

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

s in the state to win the election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwifuru, Francis 1975 births Living people Politicians from Ebonyi State Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria People from Ebonyi State