A former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbe (not Ogbeh), died peacefully in his sleep, the family has said.

The Benue State-born politician who also served as Minister of Agriculture in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, neither showed any sign of ailment nor complained before going to bed.

“He told us that he wanted to rest. After that, he went to lie down in the early hours of that day (Saturday). He peacefully left,” his daughter-in-law, Ann Ali, told The Nation yesterday.

Ogbe recently granted an interview to a national newspaper, which was published on the day he died. In the interview, he expressed concern about the future of the country.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, House of Representatives Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, and ex-Governors Gabriel Suswam (Benue) and Chris Ngige (Anambra) yesterday, also mourned the passing of the former Agriculture and Rural Development Minister.

They described the demise of the Benue State-born politician and farmer as a huge loss to Nigeria and the North-central.

In his condolence message, Shettima said: “We have not just lost a former minister; we have lost an architect of Nigeria’s agricultural renaissance whose vision and dedication impacted our agricultural development as a nation.

Chief Audu Ogbe was among the great public servants of our time, a man whose integrity, service, and unwavering commitment to national development defined his entire public life.”

In his condolence, Ngige wrote:

“…With the death of Ogbe, it’s the end of an era because the political class and the nation have lost a rare gem; a man of great integrity, with a great vision and mission but whom the negative forces of retardation did not allow to release all his potential energy as a farmer and intellectual for the benefit of his country, Nigeria.” (The Nation, but headline rejigged)