“Enugu State deserves someone who is genuinely empathetic about the fates of the people, who is neither selfish nor self-centered. The State deserves a man who is approachable, a good listener and one who will bend over backwards to make the people’s welfare his major priority.”
MEET PETER NDUBUISI MBAH ESQ
“… a true bridge builder, a link between the ancient and the modern; a selfless humanist with global outreach; a man who understands the value of trust and loyalty”.
An International Maritime Lawyer, Business Magnate, Public Administrator and Philanthropist, Peter Ndubuisi Mbah was born half a century ago to the family of Chief and Mrs Gilbert Ekete Mbah, in Owo, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.
In recognition of the importance of life, and with the assurance that their baby had a special mark and calling, his parents named him Ndubuisi, assured that so long as the boy lived, he would accomplish great milestones. On his baptism, he was named Peter, because his parents believed that, like the biblical Peter, Ndubuisi would grow to be a rock upon which great things would be anchored. They would be proved right over time.
Living up to his names, Peter Ndubuisi Mbah foraged through life with an uncommon focus and determination. He displayed courage, perseverance, resilience, conscientiousness, and passion. These attributes have catapulted him to the pinnacle of relevance and ensured his position in national and global affairs.
Guided by these lifelong attributes, Peter, among his other business engagements, founded the FOCUS International Schools in Lagos, even at a teething stage of his entrepreneurial drive, in recognition of the role of education in national development. Today, he is also Founder and Chief Executive officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd., an indigenous oil and gas company. Rising from a modest beginning, Peter’s journey through life has been fruitful, and full of impact. It spans through philanthropy, public service, the academia, and entrepreneurship.
A true bridge builder, a link between the ancient and the modern; a selfless humanist with global outreach, Peter is not loud nor is he brash; he is tested and trusted. He is a man who understands the values of trust and loyalty.
Peter’s education commenced at the Army Children’s School, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, from where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate with distinction. After leaving school, he wanted so much to be an international merchant; thus, he engaged in commercial training/trading, simultaneously pursuing his academic studies. He later enrolled atOwode High School, Owode Egba, Ogun State, where he sat for and obtained his Senior Secondary School Certificate in 1992.
It was while trading that he realized the importance of legal education. He applied to and was accepted to study Law at the University of East London (UEL), in the United Kingdom from where he obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree, in the Upper-Class Division in 2000.
While at the University of East London, his leadership and organizational skills came to the fore. He was thus electedPresident of the Students Law Society between 1998-99. Under his leadership, the school won the students’ union prize and certificate of achievement for the ‘Most Productive Society of the Year.’
From 1999 to 2000, Peter was Member, Students Representative Council of the UEL, as well as Member of the School of Law Board, where he represented the final year students. Peter won the first prize of the University of East London Mooting Competition and led the university’s team to the International Negotiation Competition.
He returned to Nigeria to study for his bar examination. He was later called to the Nigerian Bar and awarded the Barrister-at-Law (BL) at the Nigerian Law School. He did his youth service in Lagos with the law firm of Udeh and Associates and was mentored by the inimitable Justice Nnaemeka Agu (JSC, rtd) of blessed memory, who was then a consultant to the firm.
Subsequently, Peter proceeded to acquire a Master’s degree in Maritime and Commercial Law from the Lagos State University in 2004.
In addition to these academic achievements and in the spirit of lifelong learning, he has continued to expand his boundaries of knowledge by participating in numerous other academic and capacity-building programmes, including:
- Master’s degree in Business Administration from the IESE Business School, Barcelona, University of Navarra, Spain.
- Chief Executive Programme at the Lagos Business School.
- Post Graduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and
numerous other Executive programmes in leading business schools across the world, including the Stanford Business School and Harvard Business School
Academic Testimonials
Peter’s academic records and grasp of administration, even in his student days, could be gleaned from the testimonials to his leadership given by his former lecturers and tutors at the University of East London, as well as here in Nigeria.
- Colin Sumner, Professor of Law, and Head of the School of Law at the UEL: “Peter has always struck me as an extremely determined and immensely capable young man. He is very sharp and alert, despite his easy-going manner… He resurrected a dormant body and won the university’s prize for the Most Productive Society of the Year… (he) led our student team in the International Negotiation Competition.”
- Ken McGuire, Senior Lecturer and Peter’s personal tutor at the UEL: “Peter is personable and well-mannered. He is liked and respected by his fellow students and members of the academic at UEL. He is a diligent, well-organized, and hardworking student and his academic abilities are excellent… one of the best students I have taught at UEL. He is confident of his abilities and works extremely hard.”
- Prof. Chris Ohurogu, Peter’s lecturer in LASU: “He struck me as a very hard-working, intelligent, and highly motivated person (who) possesses such a degree of foresight and problem-solving mentality which surpass those of his peers.”
Entrepreneurship and Business Acumen
Since leaving school, Peter has distinguished himself remarkably, seemingly to justify his tutors’ – Sumner, McGuire and Ohuruogu – projections of his capabilities. Aside founding Pinnacle Oil and Gas from an almost zero base-worth and nil reckoning in the corporate world, he also sits atop the board and management of Pinnacle Pointers, a real estate and hospitality company. His business and professional track records have taken him through several spheres of activities such as import trade, oil and gas sales and distributions, maritime logistics and public service. As diverse as his career in the oil industry has been, its consistent underpinning factor has been the passion for organization, corporate governance, and the perpetual search for knowledge.
Peter has been a Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of numerous successful companies and sits on the boards of several establishments. Before Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd., Peter had earlier founded the Peter Mbah Investment Limited, a trading firm which served as the Nigerian representative to International Oil Corporation (IOC) based in Fresno, California, USA. He was the sole agent of IOC in Nigeria.
Peter also founded GILPEL Industries Ltd., a trading company involved in the import and sales of domestic electrical appliances, as well as Focus International Schools, a world-class Primary and Secondary school based in Lagos.
In addition to the huge strides he has made in the areas of business, human management and public service, Peter is passionate about community development and service to humanity. His passion for intervention in community development is piloted by a zeal that is continuously driven by quest for excellence, tenacity, resilience, and an indomitable ‘can-do’ spirit
Footprints at Pinnacle
A man who believes in business success through innovation and creativity, Peter’s Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd entered the Nigerian oil and gas industry in 2008 as a late entrant but has gained a preeminent position through revolutionizing petroleum product handling by significantly reducing costs and turn-around time of operations.
While Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd started operations in 2008, the company has since reached the peak in the Nigerian oil and gas downstream sector. This rise is probably best illustrated by the company’s successful launch of its ultra-modern Offshore Petroleum Products Intake and Off-take Facility in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, the first of its kind in West Africa. The facility, in the first of a planned three phases, currently boasts of one offshore mooring system and 300,000,000 litres of petroleum storage.
In subsequent phases of expansion, which have already commenced, the facility will extend to two offshore mooring systems, the largest capable of mooring vessels of 150,000 Tons capacity, and up to one billion litres of storage facility. This would make it Africa’s largest liquid bulk terminal.
Aside this, Pinnacle’s core areas of focus in the oil industry are petroleum trading, marketing, supply, distribution and retail segments of the Nigerian oil and gas downstream sector. The company operates another storage facility and jetty in Warri, as well as a fleet of trucks and a network of retail petroleum service stations with branches across the country.
Public Service
In the area of public service, Peter made significant impact while serving in Enugu State as Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development under His Excellency, Governor Chimaroke Nnamani. As a testament to the uncommon contribution he made to the state’s fiscal operations, through the strategy document he evolved which became the operating template for Enugu State government’s development programmes, the NewsWatch magazine’s special publication of July 3rd, 2006, described Peter as “a man ahead of his time.”
As the Commissioner for Finance, he was a Member of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (Nigeria’s highest fiscal allocation body), Chairman of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee’s Sub-Committee on Legal Matters, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Enugu State Insurance Company and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Enugu State Finance and Investment Company.
He had also earlier served as Chief of Staff to the Governor in 2003, and by virtue of the role, he was Chairman of the Enugu State Tenders’ Board; Member of the Enugu State Executive Council (highest decision-making body in the State) as well as Member of the State Security Council.
Philanthropy and Social Service
Peter is also the founder of Peter Mbah Foundation (PMF), a not-for-profit and non-political organization, an all-integrated innovative initiative and humanitarian-oriented project aimed at improving the health of people and standards of living in rural communities.
PMF has since developed a 40-bed hospital in Enugu State, built several kilometers of rural roads, defrayed hospital bills for countless patients in hospitals across the country and funded the education of numerous students through the Foundation’s scholarship programme.
He is also a member of the Governing Council of Geoffrey Okoye University, Enugu.
Awards and Recognition
Peter Mbah is a Fellow of the Certified Institute of Public Administration and Management, (CIPM), a member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He also holds an honorary Doctorate degree in Political Science from the Geoffrey Okoye University, Enugu.
Peter, the Family Man
Peter is married to a wonderful woman and helpmate, one who has since marriage, helped to situate the ship of his destiny. They are blessed with four children – two daughters and two sons.
In his leisure time, Peter remains an avid reader, his favourite genre of books being biographies and autobiographies. He enjoys sailing and is a member of the Lagos Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Enugu Sports Club and is a fitness enthusiast.
The Presentation
A time as this demands nothing but the best that Enugu State has to offer; a man who is imbued with godly attributes, whose contributions to the development of Enugu State and beyond are verifiable and borne out of passionate commitment to the people.
Enugu State deserves someone who is genuinely empathetic about the fates of the people, who is neither selfish nor self-centered. The State deserves a man who is approachable, a good listener and one who will bend over backwards to make the people’s welfare his major priority.
Our collective survival and progress are the primary reason why Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has decided to heed the call and offer himself to serve Enugu State as Governor in 2023. He has the capacity, the experience (both public and private) and the ability to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Enugu State.
Let us, young and old, rally round and gift ourselves and our State the right candidate.