Senate: Day Ifeanyi Ubah defeated Uba brothers
Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah sprang a surprise on Feb. 23 when he won the Anambra South senatorial election on the platform of Young Peoples Party (YPP).
Many attributed his triumph to political complexities in Anambra State and the senatorial district he hails from.
Analysts believe that this is in addition to his philanthropic disposition which endears him to his people.
He defeated the Uba brothers - Senator Andy Uba, a sitting senator on the platform of APC and his younger brother, Chris Uba, who vied for the Senate seat on the platform of PDP.
According to results declared by Prof. M.N. Umenweke in the early hours of Monday, Feb. 25, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah polled 87,081 to defeat his closest rival, Dr. Chris Uba of PDP who scored 52,468 and Andy Uba of APC who scored 13,245 votes.
From a distance, many believed the three politicians are from the same family. However, Ifeanyi Ubah is from a different family. Even the spelling of his surname is different from that of the other two who are related.
Speaking shortly after he was declared winner, Ifeanyi Ubah said his victory would spur him into doing more for his people.
Ubah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil and a philanthropist, had wanted to vie for the Senate on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) but could not secure the ticket.
He was disqualified by APGA for not obtaining a waiver before he allegedly jumped into the contest.
Apparently pained by the disqualification, he ran to YPP which is barely known in Anambra South and was quickly given the waiver alongside the ticket to contest.
As a multi-billionaire, Ubah’s entry into YPP immediately turned the fortunes of the party in terms of popularity in the district.
In retrospect, Ubah had contested for Anambra State governorship on the platform of Labour Party (LP) but did not win.
He had moved from one party to another in the effort to clinch the political position without succeeding until now.
Ubah and the two Ubas are from a neighbouring community and the political rivalry between them reportedly dates to the days of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Andy Uba is a former governor of Anambra State on the platform of PDP. He was removed by a court in favour of Peter Obi who is now the running mate of PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Andy Uba was also a strong member of PDP before he defected to APC.
He won the senatorial seat under PDP in 2015 but defected to APC not long after President Buhari was sworn in.
Had he won this time, it would have been Andy Uba’s third time in the Senate.
Chris Uba on the other hand was said to be the godfather of Dr. Chris Ngige, who became Anambra State governor in 2003.
The god-son and godfather thereafter parted ways and became arch-enemies, to the extent that Chris Uba was alleged to have kidnaped Ngige as a sitting governor, when he (Ngige) allegedly refused to honour the agreement they reached before he become governor.