The Speaker of the House of Representatives, 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.

Abbas described the Otukpo, Benue State-born Ogbeh as an elder statesman who spent most of his life in diligence service to Nigeria and the people. In a condolence message issued yesterday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, the speaker 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.