In the book, “Of the Imitation of Christ,” Thomas A Kempis says, “For man proposes but god disposes,” summarizes the political ambition of a sitting Senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, who reportedly died of cardiac arrest in London on Saturday, July 27, 2024.
In January 2024, he declared his intention to contest the November 2025 governorship election in Anambra State, promising that one term is what he needed to completely change the face of governance in a Southeast state that is believed to be a stronghold of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
Prof Charles Soludo, whose first term elapses on March 17, 2026, is the incumbent governor of the state under APGA, who the Anambra South Senatorial Senator planned to unseat.
Unfortunately, Ifeanyi, the founder of Capital Oil, didn’t live to witness the primaries of the party under which he planned to contest.
It isn’t his first time planning to govern Anambra; he did in 2014 and in 2021 he was among candidates that slugged it out against Soludo of APGA, but he came fourth as the flagbearer of Young Progressive Party (YPP) with 20,917 votes.
Rekindles governorship ambition
Ifeanyi, a two-term senior federal lawmaker under YPP, in his bid to become the governor of his state defected to a more popular party All Progressive Congress (APC) on October 12, 2023, attributing his decision to “irreconcilable differences” in the YPP.
After joining the ruling APC, he started expanding his political tentacle and influence in Anambra, which caught the attention of the traditional ruler of Neni community, Damian Ezeani, who conferred a chieftaincy title on Ifeanyi Ubah.
Ubah, who hails from Otolo, a community in Nnewi north LGA of Anambra, is perceived by the APGA-ruling party in the state as a political rival, whose influence is a threat to the second-term ambition of Soludo.
Unfortunately, the traditional ruler who seemed unaware of the politicking playing out between the incumbent and the 52-year-old senator, was used as a scapegoat to deter other traditional rulers in the state from giving the businessman the unnecessary political advantage in the APGA-controlled state.
Business Exploration
Born on September 3, 1971, Ifeanyi, who learned trade because of the inability of his parents to bear the cost of his education, ventured into a full-time business, founding several businesses during his lifetime.
He later became an exporter of auto spare parts covering some African countries such as Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana. His investment exploration allowed him to attend business courses and seminars in leadership and business management within and outside the African continent.
At 30, the ambitious Ifeanyi founded Capital Oil and Gas Limited. His business interest cuts across sports, including purchasing Gabros International Football Club, which was renamed Ifeanyi Ubah F.C., a football club in the Nigeria Premier League.
The ambition that never came to pass
His dream of becoming Anambra governor began in 2014 when he contested under the Labour Party but lost until he settled for a senatorial ticket under YPP.
His marriage to Uchenna was blessed with five children.
Trials
In 2013, his company was said to have been one of the oil companies that collected fuel subsidies without delivering for what they were paid for. He was charged with defrauding the federal government of N43 billion under fuel subsidy fraud.
Again in 2019, the FG filed N135 Billion fraud against him. The case was between his oil company and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Fraud allegations were not the only trials he faced, there were some unknown persons after his life as he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on his life in September 2022. The assailants killed five persons in his convoy.
What killed him?
There is no official report about the cause of his death, however, a member of APC in his home state was quoted as saying he died of cardiac arrest in London.
Ifeanyi proposes, but God says it’s time to return to his maker. He would have turned 53 on September 3, 2024.