The Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has described as shocking the demise of a former chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Audu Ogbeh, who passed away on Saturday, aged 78.
Speaker Abbas described the Otukpo, Benue State-born Chief Ogbeh as an elder statesman who spent most of his life in diligence service to Nigeria and the people.
Speaker Abbas, in a condolence message issued on Sunday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, noted that not many Nigerians were privileged to so serve the country like Chief Ogbeh.
While recalling how Ogbeh had been a public servant since the late 70s, the Speaker said the Kate elder statesman occupied various offices in the Executive and Legislative arms of the government at the state and federal levels in his lifetime.
In the Second Republic, Chief Ogbeh was the deputy speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly in 1979. He was also the Federal Minister of Communications (1982–1983) and later Minister of Steel Development until a coup ended the Republic in December 1983.
In the Third Republic, Chief Ogbeh was a member of the National Constitutional Conference Commission (1993) and the National Reconciliation Committee (1995).
In the Fourth Republic, Chief Ogbeh was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party and was the national chairman of the PDP between 2001 and 2005.
Later on, Chief Ogbeh was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (2015–2019) by the late former president, Muhammadu Buhari.
He was also the chairman of the ACF between 2020 and 2023.
Speaker Abbas commiserated the Ogbeh family, the people, and the government of Benue State, while extending his condolences to Chief Ogbeh’s colleagues in the parliament and the Federal Executive Councils of the various administrations under which he served.
The Speaker prayed to God to grant Chief Ogbeh eternal rest.