A remembrance ceremony for the late elder statesman Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall was held at the Niger Delta Development Commission headquarters in Port Harcourt on September 24, 2026, where a former NDDC director said Horsfall’s legacy underpins development in the oil producing region.
Dr Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, who served as Director of Project Monitoring and Supervision at the NDDC, spoke at the event and said the region’s development was built on Horsfall’s contribution to the early intervention framework. “Horsfall’s contribution to the Niger Delta could not be separated from the institutional history of the NDDC,” Audu-Ohwavborua was reported as saying.
Members of the NDDC board and management signed a condolence register at the ceremony. The gathering included serving and former officials of the commission, and several past managing directors and chief executives attended to pay tribute.
Those listed as present included Chief Ndutimi Alaibe, Obong Nsima Ekere, Mrs Iyasere Osato, Dr Christy Atako, Mrs Ibim Seminitari, Dr Christian Oboh and Dr Enyia Akwaggaga, together with Audu-Ohwavborua.
At the event Audu-Ohwavborua recalled Horsfall’s role with the pioneer agency that preceded the NDDC. He said Horsfall was the first chairman of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, which was set up in 1992, and that the body was replaced by the NDDC in 2000 under a broader legislative mandate.
Audu-Ohwavborua also said Horsfall laid the foundation stone of the NDDC headquarters building in 1995. He noted the project remained incomplete for several years before the Federal Executive Council approved its re-award in 2017, with practical completion reached in 2019, according to his remarks at the remembrance.
The late Horsfall was described at the ceremony as having a long career in Nigeria’s security and intelligence services. He was said to be a trained police officer and an early member of the former National Security Organisation. He later became the pioneer Director General of the National Intelligence Agency and served as the second Director General of the State Security Service, now the Department of State Services.
Delegates at the remembrance also recalled Horsfall’s traditional and regional roles. He was reported as a son of the Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers State, holder of the Omekwe Paramountcy and a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Pan Niger Delta Forum.
At the close of the ceremony Audu-Ohwavborua commended the NDDC chairman, Chiedu Ebie, and the commission’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Samuel Ogbuku, for organising the event. “Institutional memory was important to understanding the evolution of development interventions in the Niger Delta,” he said.
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