Family Reveals Cause of Bode Agusto’s Death in Portugal

By Adedapo Adesanya 

The family of the late founder of Agusto & Co., Mr Bode Agusto, who passed on Thursday, October 19, has confirmed that the celebrated accountant died after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer, a disease in which malignant cells form in the tissues of the pancreas.

According to a statement seen by Business Post, Mr Agusto died at the age of 68 in the Algarve, Portugal yesterday, in the company of his family.

It was added the former Director General and Adviser on Nigeria’s budget matters will be interred in Portugal according to Islamic rites, adding that prayers and a memorial service in Lagos will be communicated soon.

Mr Agusto started the consultancy firm in 1992. At Agusto & Co, he served for a decade and a year as the chief executive. Until his death, he served as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Agusto & Co. Limited and Grand Cereals Limited (a subsidiary of UACN Plc).

He was also a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a non-executive Director of GTCO, Shell Nigeria CPFA, and Nigerian Agip CPFA. 

He graduated from the University of Lagos with a degree in Accounting and held an executive certificate in Strategy and Innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Mr Agusto was at a time an assistant vice president of Citibank Nigeria and a partner at the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

In government, he served under former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his second tenure between 2003 and 2007 as a Director General and Adviser on budget matters.

During his four years as DG on budget matters, Nigeria ran budget surpluses every year and built savings that enabled the country to obtain debt relief and repay $32 billion of the national debt.

The team also reformed the budget process by introducing spending limits and encouraging key Ministries to work with the National Assembly to evolve Medium-Term Sector Strategies consistent with the goals of the President.

That service earned him in 2003, the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MOFR).