Senate career After taking his seat in the Senate in June 2007, Ude was appointed the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation and serves in four other Senate Committees: Defence & Army, Land Transport, Capital Markets and Culture & Tourism. As Chairman of the Aviation Committee, he was at the centre of the successful effort to upgrade the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu to the status of an international airport. He also played a major role in the eventual payment of pensions and gratuities to workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways just as he is doing in the payment of compensation to the families of the 2005/2006 air-crash victims. The Committee also investigated the disbursement and utilization of the Aviation Intervention Fund. He sponsored the Social Security Bill in the Senate. He also introduced a number of motions on the Floor of the Senate. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, in April 2010, Ude raised concern about security lapses at the nation's airports after an incident in Calabar where a motorist rammed into an airplane that was preparing to take off. See also List of people from Ebonyi State References 1941 births Living people People from Ebonyi State Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) Members of the Order of the Niger 21st-century Nigerian politicians