Controversial businessman, Ifeanyi Ubah, is defying all the odds to forge ahead with his campaign to be governor of Anambra State in the November 16 gubernatorial election on the platform of the Labour Party. He talks about his oil business and plans for his people in this interview with Waheed Odusile.
How would you assess the Peter Obi administration in Anambra State?
For me, I can judge the government as a government that is not accountable to the people, and I will tell you why. Any government that its state assembly would ask to submit two years audited account and it failed to give it immediately has some skeletons in the cupboard. But it happened in Anambra State. It took the Accountant-General of the state two months to produce 2011 audited accounts of the state and up till date we have not received 2012 reports. It is very bad. It is not a government that is close to its people.
I heard the governor in America (recently) and he said so many good things, (how) he is getting money from the World Bank, getting money from this and that, for me I challenged him. I told him, look, when you get all this money, tell Anambra people this is what I collected and this is what I used this money to do, then it gives value to people. But if you are getting this money and it is getting into your pocket, how would I be clapping for you, because the poor man on the street is not feeling the money?
We from Anambra do not need too much of help, we can help ourselves, all we want is a level playing field where we can have government touching the lives of people. If you give any Anambra man N10 million (ten million naira) today, be sure that in six months he will give you N30 million (thirty million naira), but we don’t want N10 million that if you produce N30 million the bank will take N20 million.
If that is the situation on ground, how do you intend to turn things around to the benefit of Anambra people?
If I am in government, I would be giving quarterly reports every three months. This gives room for you to be giving people hope of freshness (in their government). You don’t leave any stone unturned because you bring out everything that happens within a quarter, but if you leave it to extend to six months, one year, two years, three years, that means you’ll even forget a lot of things. It doesn’t even help. It is just like if somebody doesn’t conduct local government election and you think you are doing yourself good. You are not doing yourself any good, you are just chasing people away from their government. Now tell me who in Anambra State today can access government? Nobody. You can’t access government because the man on the street who wants to talk to his local government chairman doesn’t know who to talk to because he didn’t elect the local government chairman. So, if you want to say I want to talk to my local government chairman to go and tell the governor some things, there is no chairman because the chairman there is a puppet.
But some people would say Governor Obi has done well …
The man that would tell you that Governor Obi has done well is somebody that is from the Obi family. But go to the streets in Anambra and the real people would tell you (how he is doing). How can you tell me that a governor that has not shown me the audited report of my state for two years is doing well? Even the one that his Accountant-General presented to the state assembly, they indicted him.
In specific terms, in which areas do you intend to make a difference in the lives of the people of Anambra State?
I want to bring government closer to the people; they deserve to have government close to them. I want to do local government election; it is one of our problems. Another problem is that they (the government) are not good managers of money; they don’t know how to make money. As a governor, you must be enterprising, you must know how to create money. You can see, Lagos today does not depend on federal allocation; that is government, they are working. I must be fair to you, Governor Fashola is working, Jigawa State governor (Sule Lamido) is working.
But why do you think you are in a better position to do this for Anambra? In essence why do you want to be the governor?
Nobody is doing it. I am tired of all this nonsense (going on in governance in Anambra State), it is irritating me. I am going to give my people everything because that is my final constituency. It is irritating me.
Some people would ask who is Ifeanyi Uba.? Really, who is he?
Ifeanyi Uba is a humble poor boy that grew up from the ghetto, but God has blessed me, there is no doubt about it and my yesterday doesn’t matter anymore. Ifeanyi Uba is a man that has the love of his people in his heart. Ifeanyi Uba is a practical human being. Ifeanyi Uba is a man of Anekwuekwu Anememe (what you say is what you do, a man of his words). That is Ifeanyi Uba.
What exactly should the people expect from you if you become the governor,? that break it down- not just that I want to give my people everything, or I want to bring government closer to the people.
I want to promote trade, but before I promote trade, I want people to feel safer in Anambra because it is not just about the internal (local) people but also about expatriates. The in-thing today is that anybody coming to Nigeria must Google (search for information on the internet) to know the state he is going to. So, I want to be part of that (making Nigeria safer). And also if we love our country Nigeria, then the total restructuring of Nigeria should not be left alone to the presidency or the people at the federal level. A state can start promoting Nigeria, no state is promoting Nigeria. No state is helping the federal government (to make Nigeria safer). The responsibility of making Nigeria safer should not be left in the hands of President Goodluck Jonathan alone.
So, I would want to see how I can go in and see how I can help our president (in this regard), he is a good man.
Some would argue that Ifeanyi Uba, who can’t even run his own businesses now wants to run Anambra State, that how can he run Anambra State if something as private to him as his businesses, he can’t run it?
They are blind people because they are uninformed. If I don’t have good thoughts about my business, my business will not continue to hold its strong position in the downstream sector of the Nigerian economy. And let me even say something, Capital Oil is not the only company in Ifeanyi Uba’s Group; Ifeanyi Uba has over 15 companies in his Group, even in the Oil and Gas sector, Capital Oil is not bigger than some of my companies in the downstream. Why are people trying to run me down? You are just bringing about 10 per cent of a man and you are talking about that. Let me say that Capital Oil and Gas that even people are talking about is still holding a firm command in the downstream sector of the economy. The problem is not about not running it very well. If government policy does not support business, there is no way that business can stand. If you claim that you were going to be selling rice in your restaurant and they (government) ban the importation of rice, will you sell that rice again?
Now let me put it in proper perspective. Capital Oil and Gas has no problem at all and if people are saying that (it has problem) then they should go to the company to know if there was any problem. The (so called) problem Capital Oil has is that it cannot repay its debt based on the fact that the asset is ten times more than even its liability. In asset we are five, ten times more than our liability, so you cannot even call the company a bankrupt. In America Chrysler Motors, General Motors, Citi Bank, they are under, they have even filed for bankruptcy, still they are working and (the USA government) government is supporting them.
In Nigerian, we are not doing that. If AMCON comes in… Ok, take TINAPA for instance. Today, can you say TINAPA was a bad business? No. It was because government has failed to dredge TINAPA and nobody can come and invest in TINAPA. Will you carry the cargo on your head to go and drop in TINAPA? It must come through water.
We built Capital Oil up to its present enviable status based on deregulation, in line with government’s preferred deregulation and when government didn’t put up that deregulation which the president implemented, but unfortunately they abandoned the man in the middle of the sea. If deregulation was to take root in Nigeria today, Capital Oil might even be bigger than Dangote. I am telling you the truth. Because by virtue of our status, we hold the biggest structure in the downstream. In waterways, we hold 60 per cent of the waterways in the downstream. In dispensing capacity, nobody has come half of us in the whole country. In terms of storage, in terms of fleet, we have up to 20 ships floating in front of Capital Oil today doing nothing. For two years nobody has turned the engines on and all these equipments were bought for deregulation. And government today is giving us allocation and the allocation they are giving us is not up to three percent of our capacity. So, how can I survive because I can’t trade on my own, on what government is giving me in terms of allocation? It is not up to three percent of our capacity. I will challenge whoever that would come and say we did not run Capital Oil very well. So, it is politics and it is only in politics that people can use such for political gains. If you say Capital Oil is not running well, I will challenge government and I will sue government. I would sue government and I will win because it (deregulation) is a government policy and not because of the president. It was government policy and it was being implemented, but some of these governors, when the heat was on, they couldn’t support the president. Meanwhile, they were there telling the president to do deregulation.
It is all about history now but for me, I am quiet about it and anybody can say whatever he likes, but for me you can’t say I didn’t run Capital Oil well but other companies (in the Group) are running well.
What exactly is the problem between you and Coscharis?
Coscharis, issue is one that Anambra politics brought somehow along the line and it is political. And it has been corrected.
The election is around the corner, how would you rate your chances?
I am winning. Are you doubting me? Everything is working well. I am waiting for the day they will swear me in.
What is your relationship with the Villa?
I’ve always had a good relationship with the Villa, mutual relationship with the Villa. I am one of the Villa’s anointed. They are all our fathers. You can never say the president hates you. Any Nigerian that does not have one with the Villa should work hard to have good relationship with the Villa. I am one of the Villa boys. I am not in an opposition party.
But your party, the Labour Party, is not part of the federal government?
Labour is a part of everything. We don’t have a presidential candidate, so, Villa (President Jonathan) is our presidential candidate. We don’t have a presidential candidate in the Labour Party. Have you seen a politician saying he is a presidential aspirant/candidate in the Labour Party? And so, it is until the day we have a presidential candidate (in Labour Party). So, for now Villa is our party, our candidate.
Why were you shopping for ticket in parties before you eventually got the Labour Party’s nod?
I didn’t shop for ticket. I was waiting for God’s direction. God said this is the party (Labour) you will go to, that all these parties with a lot of holes… you could fall into a trap. I saw the holes (in PDP) and I ran away but unfortunately some of my colleagues (like) Charles Soludo entered and the hole swallowed him. But for us that are streetwise boys we escaped the hole and today I am a candidate within the next 30 days. Every Nigerian should give me kudos for that, a first timer, I am in the contest and if they call first, second and third, they will call me.
Having been part of Anambra politics in the last seven years, according to you, will it be right to say you are a godfather and…
I am a holy father in Anambra politics and I will tell you why. I have never been involved in any government contract. I have helped a lot of people to gain political mileage. I am part of every political process, in fact winning elections in Anambra State because my people love me and I have always been delivering my town Nnewi. You cannot win election in Nnewi without using Ifeanyi Uba, without calling me because I need to assess you and feel that you want to give my people the best. With due respect to my mentor, Mr Cletus Ibeto, you can’t talk of Nnewi politics without Ifeanyi Ubah, outside Mr Ibeto.
That means you are tired of being a holy father, now you want to…
If the holy father is blessing boys and they don’t want to change; you are blessing people and they don’t want to change. I now say let me even get involved, let me wear the regalia and go and preach. That is why you see me here because I have a mandate, I have a vision, there is something pushing me to go and change a lot of people (things). There is no more room to play.
You have been promising a lot in your campaign. Can you achieve all of them in four years and where would the money come from?
I will even do more. It is just for my people to trust me and give me the mandate. If I don’t deliver, they shouldn’t vote for me again.
But where will the money come from?
I am a money maker, a magician trained by God. In fact, let me tell you something, if I can gather all my resources, what God has blessed me with, I can do 50 percent of Anambra without anybody’s money. If I gather my worldwide resources and I am given a free hand to change Anambra, I promise you that I will do 50 percent of what is in my manifesto without touching one kobo of Anambra State government.
From your purse?
I am telling you the truth.
That would be fantastic.
May be people are underrating me. If I gather my resources and I have the seal of government without collecting one kobo from federal government, I will complete 50 percent of everything in my manifesto without one kobo. And to prove a point, I can challenge you that I can run Anambra government without security votes till I raise the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Anambra State from a mere N300 million to N5billion monthly, quote me. In life you challenge yourself.
Is it true that Madam at the Villa is the one behind you?
No. She is my mother and she is the mother of every Nigerian. You see, Anambra people are trying to put problem between me and the Villa. Madam is the mother of every Nigerian and people should give that woman respect. She is the mother of this country. We have seen first ladies that were not outspoken in Nigeria; we have seen first ladies that have not done 30 percent of what she has done. That woman is a real woman. Go and check among all the first ladies in Nigeria who is more loved than any other first lady. If they say your mother is doing well, won’t you want to embrace her? And now that I don’t have a mother, my mother is dead, I adopted her.
What would be your message to Anambra voters, come November 16?
That Ifeanyi is a man God has blessed from a very humble beginning to where I am today, and I decided to leave where I am today to do what no one has ever done. That I don’t have a godfather, but my godfathers are Anambrarians, the poor masses, the widows, the Okada riders, the Keke NAPEP people; that I am coming to Anambra to stay with them, to be practical with them, to give them values of governance, to give them a quarterly statement about their government, to change their lives, to give them security, to give them employment, to touch their lives and to give them hope.
