By Ndubuisi Orji
WHEN Chief Uchechukwu Ogah decided to contest for the governorship of Abia on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),he probably thought it was going to be an easy journey to the Government House, Umuahia. Ogah, may have also thought that once he clinches the PDP ticket, he would go on to win the main election and the rest would be history.
The reason for this optimism is not farfetched. In recent years, he has warmed his way into the hearts of the people as an employer of labour and philanthropist of note. Little did the entrepreneur turned politician think that the path may be tough, rough and tortuous.
Like other aspirants desirous of succeeding the former governor, Senator Theodore Orji, Ogah had his eyes fixed on the December 8, 2014 governorship primaries of the PDP in Abia State.
Prior to the event, he had consulted widely on his governorship aspiration and through his Abia Rejoice campaign organisation, also mobilised his supporters for the primaries. Ogah was very confident of victory to say the least. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he expected at the PDP primaries and that
automatically changed his political trajectory.
At the Abia PDP primaries, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu. Orji’s preferred candidate was declared the winner of the primaries. Expectedly, Ogah kicked. Although, he came second in the contest, he said the process was everything but free, fair and credible. Pronto, the governorship hopeful petitioned the PDP
headquarters alleging foul play in the contest that produced Ikpeazu as the party governorship standard bearer. But nothing positive came out of that protest.
Ogah was to later discover a loophole in the tax papers filed by Ikpeazu and he clung to it. He headed to the court seeking for the disqualification of the latter for alleged falsification of tax documents, while at the same time praying the court to declare him the authentic PDP candidate.
As Ogah went in and out of courts, Ikpeazu contested the governorship election on PDP platform, won and was subsequently sworn in as the governor of Abia State.
However, while some of the aggrieved aspirants were venting their anger on the pages of newspapers, Ogah went about his litigations quietly. His efforts paid off on Monday June 27, when a Federal High Court in Abuja, sacked Ikpeazu as the governor of the state. Justice Okon Abang who gave the
judgement directed the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to give the Uturu born politician a Certificate of Return as the duly elected governor of the state and that he be sworn in immediately Only a few still remember that he has a pre-election case in the court, until that judgement which has sent the Abia governor running from pillar to post.
Two days later, the businessman was issued with the Certificate of Return by the electoral body. Armed with that sensitive document, Ogah arrived Umuahia for his swearing in, but those expected
to perform the exercise were not found.
He was born on December 22, 1969 into the family of Chief Wilson and Ezinne Pauline Ogah of Onuaku Uturu,Isuikwuato Local Governmwhient Area of present day Abia State. Ogah studied at the Ishiagu High School, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu State, where he obtained where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accounting in 1995. He later bagged a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Bachelor of Science degree (Banking
and Finance) from Ogun State University and a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from
University of Lagos.
He had a brief stint at the now defunct All States Trust Bank before moving on to Zenith Bank in 1997. In 2007, he left his comfort zone at the Zenith Bank where he was already an Assistant General Manger to try his hand in entrepreneurship. That decision was seemingly the turning point in his life. Master Energy Group, which he founded after leaving Zenith is now a big player in the Nigeria economy.