The President Muhammadu Buhari re-election campaign team is very determined about having a robust outing in the South-East come 2019 presidential election; and members of the team are leaving no stone unturned in achieving their ultimate aim of clinching another term.
To this end, it has identified a key businessman of Ibo extraction for patronage through lucrative contracts that would enable him oil the campaign machinery in that part of the country. One of these dudes is no other than Uche Ogah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Masters Energy, whose company has been awarded with oil lift contract running into billions for 2018/2019 round.
The name Uche Ogah might not reverberate resoundingly to an average Nigerian; those who are conversant with the intrigues of fuel subsidy know how he has been one of the major beneficiaries of the subsidy .
In the politics of the South East, he is also well known as the man who almost edged out the incumbent governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu in a litigation decided in favour of Ikpeazu by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He has since decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over what he termed “lack of internal democracy” in PDP.
As 2019 general elections draw near, President Buhari and his trusted oil sector guides (Abba Kyari – chief of staff), Mamman Daura (cousin) and Maikanti Kacalla Baru (NNPC GMD) have chosen to align with Ogah and his ilk whom are believed to be favorably disposed to the re-election of the President. Winning the election is topmost in the minds of these dudes and knowing full well that the President will not be able to win another term without the south, the nation’s cash cow, NNPC crude, is being deployed to ease the process.
Several northern companies are set to receive crude cargoes for the second year in a row. Buhari will be looking to pamper this constituency that had been instrumental in his win in 2015. Those on the list include AA Rano (Auwalu Abdullahi Rano)and AMG Petroenergy (Risqua Murtala Muhammed), as well as MRS (Alhaji Sayyu Idris Dantata, Aliko Dangote’s half-brother) Prudent Energy owned by businessman Abdulwasiu Sowami (Borno) would also see its second quote of crude, as would Mahmud Tukur (Adamawa), he,ad of Eterna Oil & gas and son of the former opponent PDP party leader, Bamanga Tukur.
Levene Energy is also on the list to pick up a second consecutive year of crude. This company is reportedly controlled by friends of aviation minister of state, Sirika Hadi (Katsina). The same goes for Setana, headed by Edward Edozian, the cousin of the permanent secretary to the ministry of energy, Luis Edozian.
