The Young Progressives Party (YPP) candidate for the 2021 Anambra guber election, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, has reportedly perfected plans to get business tycoon and CEO of Atlas Oranto Petroleum, Prince Arthur Eze, to fund his governorship election campaign.
According to inside sources close to Senator Ubah, plans to announce Dr Okey Eze, Prince Arthur Eze’s brother, as his running mate ahead of the November 6 poll are in top gear. The move is seen as a plot to get the billionaire oil magnate to bankroll the campaign as he (Sen. Ubah) is neck-deep in debt and has been unable to raise funds to match the demands of financing his Anambra State Governorship election.
One source, who craved anonymity, said the Senator sees this as an opportunity to repair his already-dented image and buy public sympathy with Prince Eze’s money and image.
The move also comes as a blow to the ambition of the embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State Chairman, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu (Obuka Awka), to decamp and emerge as Senator Ubah’s running mate.
“Ifeanyi Ubah’s plan with Obuka has fallen through the cracks. You know he will always go for the highest bidder, and right now, he sees Arthur Eze as a suitable moneybag to fund his campaign,” our source, an old-time politician, said.
“Initially, Senator Ubah saw Nwobu as an opportunity to get some money and the pockets of followers that might follow him from the PDP, but with the kind of debts he currently has, only a wealthy godfather can give him a fighting chance in the election.”
Further investigation reveals that Prince Arthur Eze is not interested in funding a campaign that will fail after the bitter experiences of bankrolling two unsuccessful campaigns for Chief Tony Nwoye with the PDP in 2013 and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2017.
A personal aide to Arthur Eze, who spoke to under codition of anonimity on the development, disclosed that his boss no longer wishes to gamble his money with politics and politicians, especially on a small party that will not win the election.
“Oga (Prince Arthur Eze) is aware of the rumour, but I’m sure he will accept Ifeanyi Ubah’s proposition. After 2013 and 2017, he has told anyone who cares to listen that he will not put his money in politics again,” the aide stated.
Another highly-ranked politician who is privy to the development said the entire plan reeks of desperation and will spell political doom for Senator Ubah.
“Ifeanyi Ubah is unnecessarily desperate for power. He is drowning in debts, and instead of him to find a way to clear his name, pay his workers their salaries that he has been owing for some time now, he is attempting to reintroduce godfatherism into Anambra politics, something the people have since rejected,” he remarked, angrily.
