Where are they now?

They made headlines, especially in the nation’s political firmament, in the days gone by, but suddenly disappeared from public space.
They were once political gladiators whose faces adorned the pages of newspapers and also occupied media space.
In fact, once upon a time, they were every journalist’s delight because while in office, their comments made headlines.
However, for inexplicable reasons, they have suddenly gone into ‘political oblivion’ thereby affirming the saying that public office in transient.
Investigations by Blueprint Weekend show that a good number of former office holders, after leaving office, went into private businesses, while others went into premature retirement.
ELEOJO IDACHABA searches for them for the sake of posterity in this report.
Professor Humphrey Nwosu Except for elders and students of History otherwise anyone born after 1993 would never know that this man was the one who conducted what was and still credited as the freest and fairest election in the political history of Nigeria which was unfortunately cancelled by the military regime.
Not until President Muhammadu Buhari after 25 years decided to rewrite history and honour the supposed winner of that election, the late Chief MKO Abiola recently, Prof.
Humphrey Nwosu under whose watch that election was conducted went into what analysts called self-imposed sabbatical leave.
He was the former chairman of the 0defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON).
As the former boss of the electoral umpire which conducted the June 12 1993 general elections and presidential election in particular, he had released almost all the results of which MKO Abiola, a candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was in the clear lead against his rival, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, of the National Republican Convention (NRC).
Just before the final results was to be announced, the military authorities under former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida ordered him to halt the announcement following which the results were finally annulled.
As a professor of Political Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he went back to the institution that produced him but not long after, nothing was heard about him again.
But following the announcement by President Buhari to honour the late MKO and other Nigerians in the disputed June 12 debacle recently, Nwosu who has been out of public space for 25 years suddenly wrote a letter in response to the invitation extended to him to attend the ceremony in Abuja.
In that letter, he thanked the president and government for the honour but pleaded to be absent since he was out of the country.
“Certainly, scheduled event on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, will rekindle the national consciousness of all Nigerians for a better nation.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be present at the investiture ceremony as I am outside the country,” he said.
Prof Nwosu was once upon a time a force to reckon with in the nation’s political space.
Jonathan Silas Zwingina Again, not many younger Nigerians will remember this name after he left the Senate in 2007.
But between 1999 and 2007, the name Senator Jonathan Zwingina was a household name among leading senators in the country, having represented Adamawa South Senatorial District in the National Assembly.
A first class graduate of the University of Ibadan, he came to limelight also in the events leading to the disputed June 12, 1993 elections when he served as the Director-General of Chief MKO Abiola Campaign Organisation.
After the return to democracy in 1999, he won election to represent his state at the Senate on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and held various chairmanship positions, ranging from Works and Housing to Special Duties, Internal Affairs and Economic Affairs.
He was also at a point the Senate Committee chairman on Information, a position that brought him closer to the media than his colleagues.
As the chairman of Information Committee, he never betrayed any emotion when confronted by journalists to clarify any matter.
One thing that stood out well for him all the way among his colleagues is his oratorical skill.
Many Nigerians will however not forget the controversial allegation of N52 million brought against him and former deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantua, by Malam Nasir El-Rufai who alleged that the duo asked for that bribe as precondition for his clearance as a minister.
Long after Zwingina lost the position to Grace Bent, it was like he found it difficult to recover from the shock as he quietly went quiet.
While it was alleged that he went to the Republic of South Africa for business, others said he had been in Abuja until 2015, when he appeared in an APC town hall meeting in Yola where he publicly declared for the then opposition party.
In spite of that, he has not been heard until his name conspicuously appeared as the chairman of APC congress for Abia state in May, this year.
Political watchers say the appointment was a form of compensation to the ex-senator whose towering influence helped the party to win Adamawa in 2015.
Chukwuemeka Chikelu Long after he was pushed aside in a cabinet reshuffle under former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006, this man who was said to be the youngest cabinet member in that government with many years of political exploits has gone into political retirement or rather public glare.
An indigene of Anambra state from a well bred family, first, he read Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Maiduguri, but later went to study Law at the University of Buckingham in the UK where he bagged his LLB.
Between 1999 and 2003, he represented Anaocha/ Njikoka/Dunukofia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
During the second tenure of former President Obasanjo, he was appointed as the Minister of Information.
His period as minister witnessed major media campaign against HIV/ AIDS, as well as female genital mutilation.
Although he was said to have performed well as minister, because he was considered to be a lightweight, especially since OBJ then was cooking his infamous third term ambition, he considered Chikelu as someone who could not deliver the goose on that ambition.
He was, therefore, replaced by Frank Nweke (Jnr.).
Since then, Chikelu has gone into political seclusion such that one wonders if he is still in the country.