| Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba | |
|---|---|
| Senator for Anambra South | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Ikechukwu Obiorah |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 December 1958 Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria |
| Political party | People's Democratic Party (PDP) |
Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba, or "Andy Uba", (b. 14 December 1958) is a Nigerian politician who was elected Senator for the Anambra South constituency of Anambra State, Nigeria in April 2011, running on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform.[1]
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Uba was born on 14 December 1958 in Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria. His parents originated from Uga, in the Aguata LGA of Anambra State. He attended the Boys High School Awkunanaw, Enugu State. According to some sources, he was admitted to Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, graduating in 1984 with a degree in Geology. He worked for the Golden State Mutual Insurance of California (1985–1992). He studied at California State University and then Buxton University, gaining a PhD in Biosciences in 1996.[1] (Buxton University is incorporated in the Seychelles, and issues degrees to anyone who provides an employment background form and submits the fee.[2])
Andy Uba's younger brother Chris Uba has been called "one of the PDP chieftains and moneybag".[3]
While still in the United States Uba assisted in the 1999 Presidential elections in Nigeria. Following the elections he returned to Nigeria and was appointed Special Assistant on Special Duties and Domestic Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo.[1] In a September 2003 visit by Obasanjo to the United States, Uba was described as the President's right-hand man, and also the gatekeeper for people who wished to talk to the President.[4] In November 2006 Uba defended himself against allegations of money laundering related to the September 2003 trip, when he brought $170,000 in cash into the United States via a presidential plane, and did not declare it to Customs. Uba and his co-defendant later paid $26,000 in settlement of a claim by the United States government.[5] Commenting on the incident, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should arrest and prosecute Andy Uba.[6]
In July 2007 Saminu Turaki, a former governor of Jigawa State, was in court on a money laundering charge. Turaki claimed that Andy Uba had witnessed the payment by Turaki of very large sums of money in an attempt to gain approval for Obasanjo to seek election for a third-term. Uba denied the allegation.[7] A newspaper reported that Obasanjo had allocated three oil blocks to Turaki's company, INC Natural Resources, at a give-away price. Turaki had then provided N2 billion to fund the third term campaign, with N50 million being given to each senator who supported the third term. Turaki alleged that as Obasanjo's assistant Andy Uba coordinated transfer of the money.[8]
In 2007 Uba competed successfully in the PDP primaries for the Anambra State governorship election, and was elected in the 14 April 2007 elections.[1] However, the former governor Peter Obi challenged the election on the grounds that since the courts had only accepted that Obi had won the April 2003 elections in a decision of 15 March 2006, he still had three more years to serve of his four-year term. The courts accepted this argument and on 14 June 2007 nullified Andy Uba's election.[9] In November 2009 it was reported that Uba was planning to run for the delayed Anambra State gubernatorial elections in February 2010 on the Labour Party platform.[10] The Labour party had apparently invited him to make the move.[11] The party leadership said they "believed that he will deliver on the ideals and objectives of the party".[12] Talking of his decision to switch parties, on 31 December 2009 Uba said "Labour is my natural political home".[13]
In the February 2010 elections, Uba came third.[14] Uba returned to the PDP and was nominated as PDP candidate for Anambra South in the April 2011 elections. He won with 63,316 votes, ahead of Chukwmaeze Nzeribe of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) with 43,798 and the incumbent senator Ikechukwu Obiorah of the Accord party with 24,724. Uba's election was challenged by Senator Obiora, the Accord candidate, who claimed that Uba had forged his West African School Certificate (WASC) and had not obtained any of the university degrees that he claimed.[15] The story of allegedly faked degrees dates back to a story written by two investigative reporters and published by The News in December 2006.[16] Reporters claim that both Concordia and California State University said that although Uba enrolled, he did not graduate from either university.[3][17]