A former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, is dead.
According to his family, he died peacefully on Saturday, August 9, 2025.
Ogbeh, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between 2001 and 2005, played national politics beyond his state of origin in Benue, North Central Nigeria, where he was deputy speaker of the state’s House of Assembly from 1979 to 1982.
He was the agriculture minister from November 2015 to May 2019 during the first term of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died on July 13, 2025.
Ogbeh was true to his views and was unsparing in his criticisms of the policies and actions of the government, though critics faulted his handling of Nigeria’s food security during his time as agriculture minister.
During his last interview with Channels Television in March 2025, he said that rather than impose a state of emergency on oil-rich Rivers State, President Bola Tinubu should have called notable Nigerians to mediate in the matter and appeal to the warring parties to sheathe their swords.
“Rivers State is bigger than any individual. We, as a country and as countrymen, are not interested in watching a situation where Rivers State and the entire Niger Delta will go up in flames.
“Nigeria has lived off the Niger Delta for 40 years. We appreciate what they have done for Nigeria because their oil has been fuelling our expenditure. Nobody wants a crisis in the Niger Delta,” he had said.
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