Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and ex-national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party. PDP Chief Audu Ogbeh is dead.
A statement by the Ogbeh family on Saturday said the elder statesman died peacefully on Saturday at the age of 78.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Chief Audu Ogbeh.
“He passed away on the 9th of August 2025 at the fulfilled age of 78,” the statement read.
The family described Ogbeh as a man who “departed peacefully, leaving behind a legacy of integrity, service, and dedication to our nation and community.”
“We are comforted by the many lives he touched and the example he set,” the statement added.
It noted that details of the funeral arrangements would be announced in due course, while expressing gratitude to friends, colleagues, and well-wishers for their prayers and support.
“We will appreciate some privacy at this time while we mourn the loss of our patriarch,” the statement concluded.
Ogbeh was born in Otukpo, Benue State, and attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria before moving on to the University of Toulouse in France. He rose from teaching assistant to dean of the Language, Arts, and Social Sciences Department at Murtala College of Arts, Science, and Technology in 1977.
His public service career began in 1979, when he was elected to the Benue State House of Assembly and served as Deputy Speaker.
He was later appointed Federal Minister of Communications (1982-1983) and Minister of Steel Development in the Second Republic, but his time was cut short by the December 1983 coup.
Ogbeh returned to national service after spending time in agriculture, where he developed rice mills, a cashew plantation, debt community agricultural programmes, and a consultancy service.
He worked in the National Constitutional Conference Commission (1993) and the National Reconciliation Committee (1995).
Ogbeh, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, served as the party’s National Chairman from 2001 to 2005, famously taking a moral position against former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third-term attempt, which resulted in his resignation.
In his later years, Ogbeh was named Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (2015-2019) by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
A multidimensional scholar, he wrote several plays, including Epitaph of Simon Kisulu, which premiered at the Muson Centre in 2002.
