Those that say money making is an art and Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, OON, is a maestro in the field seem to be right.
The Oke Oji of Abia and CEO of Masters Energy is a big player in the oil and gas industry and he plies his trade in such a way that makes many of his competitors green with envy.
Indeed, he enjoys uncommon grace so much so that he now sits atop a multi-million Naira conglomerate with various subsidiaries in oil & gas, banking, insurance, aviation, shipping, dredging, logistics, construction, hospitality and power.
He started out as a banker, but he later dumped banking 15 years after to pursue his dream. In reminiscence, the decision has paid off hugely. Today, his firm owns a 158,000- metric tonne capacity independent petroleum products storage facility located in Port-Harcourt, which is reported to have provided direct employment to over 600 people and created over 4,000 indirect jobs for communities in the Niger Delta region.
In addition, he is said to be constructing an industrial city at Onuaku -Uturu in Isikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State, which is expected to provide 14,000 jobs on completion in the next few months.
The factories, which include plants that will produce petrochemicals, lubricants, organic fertilizers, plastics etc., are reported to have achieved an 80 percent completion status, and will be ready for commissioning in a couple of months. Unlike many other billionaires, he has used his money to assist thousands in the state as well as neighbouring states.
So, when he threw his hat into the ring of politics, people in his state danced for joy and jubilated because they were quite sure that a messiah had arrived at last.
For those who do not know, Ogah stands like a colossus in the area of philanthropy.
He has single-handedly provided electricity for villages, changed the landscape of a whole village by building prototype houses and offered free medical services for citizens of the community. He has built and equipped the modern hospitals in his native Uturu community in Isikwuato Local Government of Abia State and also offered scholarships to both primary and secondary students in the same community since 2006. He has also partnered Hopeville Rehabilitation Centre, Uturu for fabrication of Prosthetics (artificial limbs) or Orthotics (calipers) for so many physically challenged people. These are in addition to sponsoring many people to India for various medical issues.
In 2011, he took his humanitarian gesture to a higher level when he established the Uche Ogah Foundation. He also instituted a chair at the Abia State University and is building an auditorium in the same university.
Little wonder, his name is not just one of the most popular names in Abia State today, it is also a name that is associated with positive impact on the lives of the people and a struggle for the liberation of the state. So his entry into politics was fuelled by his determination to provide quality leadership to Abians and to help them achieve enduring social uplift. A source disclosed that in 2015, Ogah contested his party’s primary in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and defeated other notable politicians in the state, including a deputy governor, minister, but the manipulation was simply out of this world just like the last election.
‘’In 2015, Ogah was not squarely on the ballot for an obvious reason: manipulation. But in 2019, he contested against six other great sons of Abia and won his party’s primary, thereby becoming the candidate of his great party and a nightmare to the subjugators of Abia people and election riggers. He gave a good account of himself in the general election, having been voted for overwhelmingly by themajority of Abians. This is the truth which will eventually be revealed when the issues raised at the tribunal are determined and those who truly lost the election will be known.
‘’Dr. Uche Ogah is very much aware that politics is a process and not an event. He is also very much aware that the struggle to liberate Abia from the stranglehold of political merchants will be an onerous task and definitely not a day’s job. He has also been careful to ensure that due process is followed and that no life is lost. He is ready to make this sacrifice and he hasn’t failed.
“It is no longer news that leading opposition parties in the last gubernatorial election in Abia State have gone to the tribunal, seeking to upturn the fraudulent result that was announced in favour of the PDP. But the public is yet to know the fulcrum upon which they seek to retrieve the mandate of the people from the malingering kleptomaniacs who represent dark elements within Abia State,” the source added.
Another source revealed that the oil and gas big shot would surely coast home to victory if the court case is vigorously pursued as details of material evidence obtained from Independent National Electoral Commission have earlier allegedly showed that there was outright rigging in six local government areas of the state.
It was also disclosed that from the materials presented by APGA and other parties before the election tribunal, it is evident that Card Readers were not used in six local government areas in the election. “While it was revealed that PVCs used in many of those local government areas were not by the original owners. PDP connived with compromised INEC officials to acquire these PVCs and handed them over to their agents who simply paid anybody in sight to use them to vote for their party and to do multiple thumb printing, since these PVCs were originally registered in the Card Readers.
But a simple forensic audit on the ballot papers will proof that thumb prints on ballot papers in these local government areas do not reflect the use of PVCs by original owners, thereby invalidating these votes ab initio.
“The PDP mandated its agents to beat up opposition party agents in many local government areas and chase those perceived to want to vote for opposition parties away. In some cases, they kidnapped opposition party agents and denied them the opportunity to participate and to sign Form EC8A result sheets.
“In other cases, PDP agents signed on behalf of opposition party agents that were chased away, but these signatures did not reflect the original signatures for which these party agents were known. Therefore, the PDP was engaged in forgery and monumental manipulation that exposed their criminal gang up against Abia voters. ‘”The real issue is that Abia PDP is stringing efforts to escape from its violent and fraudulent manipulation of the outcome of the last gubernatorial election, having spent over 15 billion Naira to achieve this criminal outcome.
“Unfortunately for them, opposition party candidates in the last gubernatorial election in Abia State are not people they can handicap. They are determined to get justice for the good people of Abia State, to end the regime of criminality and impunity that has been enthroned by the PDP in Abia State. And as it stands, APC candidate will be declared the winner based on evidence provided by APGA,” another source added.
