Senator Francis Spanner Okpozo

By: Ovedhe Jerry.

MINORITY Leader of the House of Representatives and member representing Isoko Federal Constituency, Hon Leo Ogor, and the Commissioner,

Public Complains, Sir Mathaias Eto have said they received with shock and sadness, the news of the death of Late Senator Francis Spanner Okpozo on Tuesday night.

The duo in a condolence messages described the late Senator Okpozo as a “dogged fighter” a national leader who brought so many development to Isoko land and will be missed by all Isoko politician because of his immense contribution to Isoko nation and to the Nigeria’s political development.

“The Late Senator Okpozo was a great and dogged fighter who represented the interests of his people very well and has impacted positively on us that is why we will miss him dearly, because he has touched the lives of almost all the politicians in Isoko land.

“He was a great ambassador of the Isoko Nation and until his death; he remained a rallying point for many politicians in the Niger Delta. His death is a great loss to the Isoko Nation, Delta State and Nigeria at large.

“On behalf of the people of Isoko Federal Constituency, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his immediate family, his party members as well as the old boys of our Alma mata, Notre Dame College Ozoro”.

They prayed God to the grant the family, the Isoko nation, the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Meanwhile the Chairman, Isoko North Local Government Council, Hon Emmanuel Egbabor has said the death of Senator Francis Spanner Okpozo was a great loss to the Isoko Nation.

He commiserated with the immediate family of Late Senator Francis Spanner Okpozo who has passed on to eternal rest.

Hon Egbabor in a condolence message described Sen Okpozo as a “sage and a foremost political leader of Isoko nation.”  He said that irrespective  of  political party affiliation, Okpozo was a father, a great leader of Isoko and South South geo- political zone.

He described Okpozo as “a very courageous, brave and fearless politician with practical imprint which will live beyond his life time.” He was one politician who could stand before anyone face-to-face and tell him/her the truth. He was a mobiliser during his active days in politics.

Sen F. S Okpozo as a member of the Bendel State House of Assembly was at the fore front of the struggle for the creation of Coastal state and moved the motion for the creation of the Coastal State, which birthed the creation of Delta state of today.

As a Deputy Speaker of the Bendel State House of Assembly in 1979 with his good relationship with the then governor, Prof Ambrose Ali, he brought the Bendel State Polytechnic (as it then was) to Ozoro, though later removed, it formed the foundation on which Chief James Ibori, the former governor of Delta State created the Delta State Polytechnic in Ozoro today.

As a partisan politician, Chief Okpozo was a foremost leader of the Alliance for Democracy and crossed to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and later the APC where he was a member of the the Board of Trustees until his death.

Sen Okpozo was elected into the National Assembly (Senate) in 1992. Though the life time of that Assembly was cut short by the military government then, Sen Okpozo gained national recognition within a short time. At the national assembly, he contested for the post of the Deputy Senate President though he lost.

Confirming the death of the late senator, Mr. Sunday Okpozo, a nephew to the Late Senator who spoke to newsmen had earlier on confirmed the death of the late Senator, saying that, “my Uncle Sen. Francis Okpozo died at University of Benin Teaching Hospital at around 8pm monday night.