Founding PANDEF BOT member, former DSS and NIA DG, OMPADEC pioneer dies at 84
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Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has been thrown into mourning following the death of one of its founding Board of Trustees members and prominent Niger Delta elder, Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall, OFR, who passed away on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at the age of 84.
PANDEF National Chairman, Ambassador Dr. Godknows Boladei Igali, OON, announced the death in a statement on Friday, describing it as a deeply painful loss to the Forum, the Niger Delta region and Nigeria.
Chief Horsfall, an aristocrat from Buguma in the Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers State, was widely recognised as a distinguished security and intelligence expert who rose to the highest levels of Nigeria’s national security establishment.
He served at different times as Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), becoming one of the notable figures in the evolution of Nigeria’s security and intelligence architecture.
His public service career also extended to the Niger Delta development question.
Chief Horsfall was the founding Chairman of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), the agency established to address developmental challenges in oil-producing communities and which later gave way to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
He also served as a pioneer Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, placing him among the early senior public officials directly involved in shaping government policy towards the oil-producing region.
Beyond his public service career, Chief Horsfall participated actively in national politics and at one point sought the presidency of Nigeria under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
A Founding Pillar of PANDEF
Chief Horsfall was also deeply committed to the Niger Delta’s quest for development, equity and justice.
In 2016, he became one of the prominent founding members of the PANDEF Board of Trustees, contributing his experience, stature and institutional knowledge to the Forum’s efforts to articulate the interests of the Niger Delta at the national level.
He subsequently played several leadership roles within PANDEF and remained an influential figure in the organisation.
PANDEF also acknowledged his traditional responsibilities as the holder of the Omekwe Paramountcy of the Kalabari Kingdom, described as a historic naval headship among the Kalabari people.
“A Titan of National and Regional Service”
Mourning the former security chief and elder statesman, Ambassador Igali said PANDEF was “greatly shocked and saddened” by his passing.
“PANDEF greatly mourns this titan of national and regional service,” Igali stated, acknowledging the breadth of Chief Horsfall’s contributions to Nigeria and the Niger Delta.
The PANDEF chairman extended the Forum’s condolences to the deceased’s family, the Kalabari Kingdom, the government and people of Rivers State, and the wider Niger Delta community.
PANDEF Orders Seven-Day Mourning
As part of its mourning arrangements, PANDEF directed all its chapters in Nigeria and the Diaspora to suspend official social programmes and use the profile image of the late Chief Horsfall across their platforms for seven days, beginning Friday, September 11, 2026.
The directive, according to the Forum, is in honour of a man whose public service career spanned national security, intelligence, Niger Delta development and traditional leadership.
For PANDEF, the passing of Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall marks the end of an important chapter in the history of the Niger Delta’s contemporary leadership.
A security and intelligence icon, public servant, traditional leader and advocate of Niger Delta interests, his legacy will remain part of the region’s political and developmental history.
Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall, OFR, was 84.
May his soul rest in perfect peace.
EMTV News
Reporting the Niger Delta and Beyond
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