ECLUSIVE: STELLA ODUAH TO RUN FOR SENATE

-Set To Battle Chuba Okadigbo's Widow, Margaret For Anambra North Seat

Stella Ada Oduah

Former minister of aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, will contest for a seat in the senate in 2015. Oduah, who was dropped from the cabinet early this year after the controversial purchase of bullet-proof cars, will contest for the Anambra north slot on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, she will first have to dislodge the current senator, Mrs Margaret Okadigbo ─ widow of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo ─ who fought all the way to the Supreme Court before she could take her seat in 2013, two years after her election. Oduah, who comes from Akili-Ozizor in Ogbaru LGA, is believed to enjoy the backing of the PDP hierarchy and is not expected to find it difficult to get the party’s nomination. The oil and gas entrepreneur was a key figure in the electioneering of

Senator Margaret Okadigbo

President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 with her Neighbour-2-Neighbour organisation. She was subsequently made minister of aviation ─ where she developed a roadmap for the remodelling and renovation of the nation’s 22 airports. However, she ran into a storm last year over the purchase of two BMW armoured cars for N255 million by the National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). It was believed to be overly inflated and the controversy eventually led to her ouster from the cabinet. The purchase did not follow due process, according to a senate report, and there was also a public outcry over the necessity of such expenditure in the first place. In what could be the pre-amble to her senatorial bid, she was recently given the chieftaincy title of Ada Eze Chukwu for her “outstanding service to Nigeria” by the traditional ruler of Ogbaru, Igwe Nelson Ethmal. She has also been honoured with an “award of excellence” by Ndigbo Lagos. An associate of the former minister disclosed that Oduah decided to give the senate a shot because she believes she still has “a lot” to contribute to national development. “Look at her record at the aviation ministry in less than three years. Never in the history of Nigeria has there been such a revolutionary approach to the development of the aviation industry in terms of infrastructure and safety,” he said. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently said she was still under probe over the BMW car affair, but she insists she did not commit any fraud.