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A former Military Governor of the old Bendel State, Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, is dead, the News Agency of Nigeria is reporting. He was 84.
Reports say he died last night.
Mr. Ogbemudia, born September 17, 1932, was an officer of the Nigerian Army and military administrator of the defunct Mid Western State between 1967 and 1975.
The state was later renamed Bendel State, which has now been broken onto Delta and Edo States.
After his military career, Mr. Ogbemudia was, in 1983, elected civilian governor of the old Bendel State, but his tenure was cut short by the military coup of December 1983, led by current President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was until his death a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).