Horsfall’s Death A Great Loss To Niger Delta, Nigeria — Audu-Ohwavborua

The death of the pioneer Executive Chairman of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), Chief Albert Horsfall, has been described as a great loss to the Niger Delta region and Nigeria.

Former Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, who stated this in a condolence message made available to journalists in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, at the weekend, described Horsfall as a patriot who contributed significantly to the development of the oil-producing Niger Delta.

Audu-Ohwavborua said Thursday, September 24, 2026, would remain a day of remembrance for Horsfall, whose tenure at OMPADEC formed part of the institutional foundation of what later became the NDDC.

“For me, and for many whose professional journey has been intertwined with the NDDC, Chief Horsfall was much more than the pioneer Executive Chairman of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC). He was one of the foundational figures in the institutional story of Niger Delta development,” he said.

He commended the NDDC Board and Management for honouring Horsfall’s legacy by gathering at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to sign the condolence register.

Audu-Ohwavborua noted that the NDDC headquarters building where the condolence ceremony took place was also a reminder of Horsfall’s contribution to the commission’s institutional history.

He said Horsfall laid the foundation stone of the headquarters building in 1995, adding that the project was later abandoned for years due to lack of funds.

According to him, the project was revived in 2017 when the NDDC Management, under the leadership of the then Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Obong Nsima Ekere, decided to complete the abandoned project.

He said the Governing Board backed the decision, while the Federal Executive Council approved the re-award of the completion contract to a new contractor in 2017.

Audu-Ohwavborua, who was Director, Project Monitoring and Supervision, at the time, said the project reached practical completion in 2019.

He described the development as part of the institutional continuum that linked Horsfall’s leadership at OMPADEC with the NDDC established under the NDDC Act of 2000.

“Thus, in a very real sense, the NDDC of today stands within a continuum of an idea to which Chief Horsfall gave leadership at a critical moment in the history of the Niger Delta,” he said.

Beyond his role at OMPADEC, Audu-Ohwavborua recalled Horsfall’s contributions to Nigeria’s security and intelligence architecture.

He said Horsfall, a trained police officer and pioneer member of the former National Security Organisation (NSO), played a role in the development of Nigeria’s intelligence establishment.

He subsequently served as the pioneer Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and later became the second Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), now known as the Department of State Services (DSS).

Audu-Ohwavborua said Horsfall’s contributions to national service and Niger Delta development would remain part of the region’s institutional history.