Multi-millionaire business woman behind Sea Petroleum and Gas, Princess Stella Adaeze-Oduah, long before her controversial ministerial appointment, was swimming in opulence. Aside living in luxury in Abuja, where she coordinated Neighbour to Neighbour (N2N), one of the major support/pressure groups that helped President Goodluck Jonathan secure landslide victory during the last presidential election, she’s also the proud owner of multiple duplexes in highbrow Victoria Garden City (VGC), Lekki, Lagos. The eye-popping mansions, with picturesque designs, litter a whole street in the heart of VGC and are very conspicuous, especially to visitors and passers-by. Some parts of the buildings, we reliably gathered, are exclusively reserved for the Senator and her immediate family. And she usually hibernates there when in Lagos. While the others are for some senior staff working in her various companies and extended family members. An insider, who spoke with YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine, disclosed that the ‘high-fence property’ is guarded round the clock. Especially during Oduah’s visit. “But she’s based more in Abuja now. She only visits once in a while”, added the source.
Born on January 5, 1962, in Onitsha, Anambra State, she journeyed to the United States of America immediately after her primary and secondary education. The daughter of HRH, Eze D.O Oduah, Igwe of Akili-Ozizor in Ogbaru, Anambra State, she bagged her BSc and MSc in Business Administration from St. Paul’s College, Lawrence Ville, Virginia, USA. Joining the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 1983, soon after her return, she resigned after garnering enough experience in 1992 to set up Sea Petroleum and Gas (SPG).
Currently one of the biggest players in her sector, she was once married to Engr. Charles Ogiemwonyi, the former MD, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, a subsidiary of NNPC and former Minister of State for Works. The union which is the man’s second was blessed with a son before it packed up. Fondly called the Oil Princess, the Neighbour to Neighbour financier who has just lost her position as the Minister of Aviation is also the owner of Intralong Services, Rotary Engineering, Stoke Oil Services, Sea Shipping Agency and Tour Afrique, among others. Rolling in real money, the pretty woman who doesn’t negotiate her comfort drives some of the best cars that money can buy and owns other choice properties scattered here and there.
NB: First published February 2014