Theodore Ahamefule Orji is a current Nigeria senator, representing Abia
Central. He was born in 1950 in Amaokwe Ugba, Umuahia – Ibeku in Umuahia North
Local Government Area of Abia State.
He attended Santa Crux Secondary
School, Olokoro, Holy Ghost College, Owerri
and obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from the University of Ibadan in 1977.
He began working as an Administrative Officer
in the old Imo State civil service in December 1979.
He subsequently served in
various capacities in the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Lands and Survey,
Ministry of Agriculture, and Imo State Government House.
He also served in Government House, Umuahia, Bureau of
Budget and Planning and Ministry of Agriculture.
On March 1, 1996, Orji was
seconded to the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON), now INEC, Abia State as Administrative Secretary
and was later redeployed to Enugu State
in 1997 where he supervised the elections that ushered in the democratic
government in the state in 1999.
He later returned to Abia State as
Principal Secretary, Government House, Umuahia and Chief of Staff to the
Executive Governor.
He won the gubernatorial
primaries of the Progressive
Peoples Alliance (PPA) In December 2006, to contest the 2007
governorship elections in Abia State.
On April 14, 2007, he resoundingly
defeated his closest rival by over 200,000 votes to emerge Governor of Abia
State.
He thus made history as being the first Governor in the History of
Nigeria to win his election while in detention. He was sworn in on Tuesday, May
29, 2007 as the 3rd Executive Governor of Abia,
Chief T. A. Orji has been recognized
and conferred with many traditional titles, including Ochendo Ibeku,
Utuagbaigwe of Ngwaland, and Ohazurume of Abia South.
He was reelected as Governor on
April 26, 2011.
In April 11,
2015 he won the Abia Central Senate election to represent the people of Abia
Central Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party.
He is
married to Mercy Odochi Orji and they have five children.
