Alia expresses regret over Audu Ogbeh’s death

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has mourned the passing of a former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who died on Saturday at the age of 78.

Alia, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Tersoo Kula, in Makurdi on Saturday, said that he received the news of Ogbeh’s death with deep regret.

The governor also said that he was saddened over the death of the elder statesman and former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said Ogbeh, a one-time Deputy Speaker of the Benue House of Assembly, lived a successful and fulfilled life, and was greatly respected and admired by many.

According to Alia, the late elder statesman’s legacies will always be remembered.

He prayed God to grant the deceased eternal rest and his immediate family, the Idoma nation, the entire people of Benue State and Nigeria as a whole, the fortitude to bear the loss.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ogbeh, who served as Minister of Communications and also Minister of Steel Development at different times, was also a farmer and playwright during his lifetime.

Ogbeh joined politics at a relatively young age and was elected into the Benue House of Assembly on the platform of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1979, where he served as deputy speaker.

Meanwhile, the governor has also commiserated with the Ishoribo family over the death of the Executive Secretary of Benue Examinations Board, Ade Ishoribo.

He described the late executive secretary as a gentleman whose impact at the board had started yielding results, adding that it was unfortunate that death had cut short his work at the organisation.

The governor prayed to God to grant his soul eternal rest and to grant his immediate family, staff members of the board, the people of Guma Local Government Area, and the people of Benue at large the solace to bear the loss.

NAN reports that the governor had already sent a delegation to extend the sympathies of the government and people of the state to the deceased’s family.