Edochie, not known for partisan politics, made this rare commentary which he started by saying: “Year 2023 is already here with us and it’s the year of the elections. We are already beginning to experience some of its challenges. I prefer to refer to it as the year of Peters.
Expatiating further, he said: “There is one Peter running for the governorship of Enugu State, which is where I reside and then of course there is me, wishing you the best of the season.”
The iconic broadcaster thereafter dwelt extensively on Dr. Peter Mbah, the PDP governorship candidate for Enugu State in the coming election, who is also the Chairman and CEO of Pinnacle Oil and Gas, which recently built a billion-dollar Lekki Free Trade Zone petroleum product terminal.
Mba, a lawyer by training―with an LLP from the University of East London, LLM in Maritime Law from Lagos State University and MBA from a business school in Barcelona Spain―is a fellow of the Certified Institute of Public Administration and Management (CIPM).
Recalling his encounter with the lawyer-cum-business man some time ago, Edochie said: “I met Peter and I sat down in his company for three hours. I spoke for 45 minutes. Peter was listening to me with rapt attention; he never interrupted me and I was beginning to wonder how he would respond to all the points I was making. When I finished, he said: ‘Thank you sir’ and he proceeded to critically analyze all the observations I have made from the very first beginning. How did I feel at the end? Delighted, fulfilled, impressed.”
The Things Fall Apart actor, in unravelling his subject, further noted that Mba’s purpose for building the terminal in Lekki is to provide a solution to the perennial oil problem in Nigeria.
Said he: “Why did Peter have to open that terminal? To ease the pain of the people to ensure that the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which we refer to as petroleum is available to the people. That is the kind of person that Peter is, that's why today, I have elected to talk about Peter.”
Mbah―whom he described as “a very modest person” and “a workaholic” who does not believe in the word “impossible”―is, according to Edochie, a forward-looking man.
"When a situation presents itself as a challenge and then morphs into a conundrum, Peter delves into the inner most recesses of his mental cavity to excogitate a solution. I refer to that as a flash of genius because he is a distributive innovator."
Explaining Mbah’s slogan of “tomorrow is here,” Edochie avowed: “A lot of people find it difficult to understand what that means. But it simply means that all our expectations are likely to be handled now because we have the wherewithal for handling all of them.”
Still waxing lyrical, Edochie further extolled the virtue of the aspiring governor:
“There are many things that stand Peter out. He thinks for others a great deal.”
Substantiating this assertion, he said: “Most people are in business to rip people off; Peter is in business for service. We are now experiencing what perhaps is the worst fuel scarcity in our country. Go to most filling stations, we purchase fuel today at N300, N320, or N350 depending on which station you go to. Peter has a couple of filling stations and he is selling at the pump price stipulated by the government, N185 naira per litre.”
While stressing that “there is absolutely nothing that prevents him from exploiting the people like most other marketers are doing,” the actor strongly averred: “It is not in his character to exploit people. He is a Christian and he lives it!”
The veteran actor also spoke about the practicality and logic of Mbah’s ambition of succeeding Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as Governor of Enugu State.
“Dr. Ugwuanyi has so many legacies to leave for Enugu State but what I consider his parting present to Enugu State is the elevation of Enugu State to the status of an oil-producing state, it means more revenue accruing into the coffers of the State,” he stated, arguing that with Peter Mbah in the oil business, his succeeding Ugwuanyi will be akin to the state having a Chief Executive that is a round peg in a round hole.
“You would imagine what it is like when somebody who is in the oil business assumes leadership of a state that is beginning to enjoy the status of an oil producing State,” Edochie reflected.
The benefit of that reality was pointed out by Edochie, thus: “Peter on becoming Governor will be able to raise the internally generated revenue [of the state] from 4.4 billion dollars to, say, 30 billion dollars. And you know something, he can do it. Yes, he can!”
"Peter has visited all the development centers in the state and relating to the people, finding out whatever it is that they need. He does that because he is in a position to ensure that all the needs of the people he can attend to them. Why? Because as he always says in his slogan, TOMORROW IS HERE. Thank you!"
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