Speaker Abbas Mourns Former ACF Chairman Audu Ogbeh

By Oluwakemi Kindness

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has expressed deep shock over the passing of former Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Audu Ogbeh, who died on Saturday at the age of 78.

In a condolence message issued on Sunday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi-Krishi, Speaker Abbas describes the Otukpo, Benue State-born politician as an elder statesman who dedicated the greater part of his life to selfless and diligent service to Nigeria and its people.

“Not many Nigerians are privileged to serve their country in the many capacities Ogbeh did,” the Speaker notes, recalling his decades-long public service career that spanned both the Executive and Legislative arms of government at state and federal levels.

Ogbeh’s political journey began in the late 1970s. In the Second Republic, he served as Deputy Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly in 1979, later becoming Minister of Communications (1982–1983) and Minister of Steel Development until the December 1983 military coup.

During the Third Republic, he was a member of the National Constitutional Conference Commission (1993) and the National Reconciliation Committee (1995).

In the Fourth Republic, Ogbeh was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and served as its National Chairman from 2001 to 2005.

He was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (2015–2019) by former President Muhammadu Buhari, and later chaired the ACF from 2020 to 2023.

Speaker Abbas commiserates with the Ogbeh family, the people and government of Benue State, as well as his former colleagues in parliament and the Federal Executive Council across different administrations.

He pray for the repose of Ogbeh’s soul and for God to grant his loved ones the strength to bear the loss.