Says he is a professional in politics
Maduako Igbokwe l Thursday, June 17, 2021
ONITSHA, Nigeria – An aspirant in the Anambra State 2021 Governorship election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Godwin Maduka has described those calling on the party to disqualify him in the primary election as cheap blackmailers.
According to him, the party constitution did not make provision for disqualification of any person for being charitable. A group known as Independent Leaders Forum (ILF) had accused Maduka of influencing delegates with money to vote for him during the primary election.
The group said after the meeting of ‘Forum of Aspirants’ at Chief Olisa Metuh’s residence at Nnewi on Sunday, June 6, 2021, all the PDP Aspirants agreed to be given only N3000 to delegates but that Maduka was giving more .
“For the Records, Sen. Uche Ekwunife convened a meeting on Monday, June 7, 2021, and she gave the delegates the agreed amount, while Dr. Godwin Maduka invited some delegates the same day and grossly violated the agreement. If a serving Senator can keep to an Agreement reached by the aspirants, who and what is the position of Dr. Maduka in PDP to violate the agreement and believe he is untouchable?” the group asked.
ILF said it would stop at nothing to ensure that Dr. Godwin Maduka is disqualified for grossly violating an agreement by the aspirants. The group went further to accuse Maduka of not possessing National Youth Service Corps NYSC certificate despite his claims of having multiple Doctorate Degrees. According to the group, his none possession of NYSC certificate contravenes Section 221 of the Nigerian constitution and therefore he is not qualified to be governor of the state.
Reacting , Maduka in a statment issued by his Director media Dr. Emezie Madu said the blackmailers embarked on such puerile and empty propaganda with hope of helping their principal make a dent in his political space by any means possible.
According to him, Dr. Godwin Maduka Foundation is a body separate and distinct from Dr. Maduka Campaign Organization, noting that the foundation has had cause to carry out humanitarian interventions over the years, even long before Dr. Maduka nursed a political ambition.
He said : ” Dr. Maduka is not an emergency or political philanthropist. His records in the world of philanthropy are clear and unambiguous. The Foundation as part of her daily activities host visitors from all walks of life, including indigent members of the society, the sick and the aged, motherless babies, prayer groups, religious leaders and party faithful.
“In their usual character, the foundation opened her doors to a contingent of party faithful and hosted them, giving them stipend for their transport afterwards. For this innocuous initiative by a foundation whose core mandate is uplifting humanity through giving, the ILF which is a beneficiary of the magnanimity of the foundation went to town with outright lies meant to malign the image of Dr. Maduka, cause disaffection against his person and derail his Campaign Organization. It is the height of crass irresponsibility and politics without principle on their part.
“Dr. Godwin Maduka has been renowned for issue based politics. His thoughts on policies and strategies of governance have been made known widely. His antecedents speak volumes of his undiminished capacity. He is not called an “iroko” for nothing. Coming from a space that is adjudged the bastion of democracy where money politics is seriously shunned, he understands clearly the implications and the dangers therein. Needless to say that despite his long sojourn abroad and impressive success level, he has maintained an impeccable and stainless records with law enforcement agencies.
“Dr. Maduka eats, sleeps and breathes development. Regardless of the fact that Anambra is at the lower rungs of the developmental ladder, he is passionate about changing the narratives and replicating the Umuchukwu miracle on a state wide scale but he is not desperate about it. Dr. Maduka will not sacrifice his values and principles on the altar of political expediency.
“He maintains an issue based campaign and will not run down the character of any person just to score some cheap political points. The issues facing the state are too dire and too serious for such trifles. He believes in decency and the people of Anambra will vindicate him. The enormous wealth of Dr. Maduka and his willingness to deploy it to charitable and humanitarian causes has never been in doubt.
“However, reducing his candidacy to money politics smacks of sinister motives and reprehensible politics. Take money out of the political equation, Dr. Maduka’s amazing record as a Harvard trained Medical Doctor and a number one pain management expert in the world, with six hospitals operating at full capacity in the US stands him out. Unlike most of the aspirants including the principal of ILF who are professional politicians, Dr. Maduka is a professional in politics.
“We make bold to say that this reprehensible action of the ILF is actually insulting and an infradig on the characters and the personalities that make up the PDP delegates. It is tantamount to calling them hungry and cheap by alleging that they were bought over with a paltry sum. It is an insult and a slap on the face of our great party the PDP.
“Many of the delegates are highly successful professionals and businessmen. Insinuating that their loyalties and conscience are for sale is a new order orchestrated by despicable folks who should have no business in politics of our dear State and we are certain that none of them is taking it lightly. It is a great disservice to the party hierarchy and to the image of the party as it portrays the party as an organization where the highest bidder carries the day, a party whose members’ motivating factor is just intestinal considerations”.
Maduka also stated that he has checked through the PDP Constitution and not one section states that an aspirant to a political position can be disqualified for being charitable and wondered why people are bent vein drive .
According to him, there are stipulated guidelines for which an aspirant can be disqualified, adding that the shameless folks who run ILF wants Dr. Maduka to be disqualified only on a ridiculous charge of charity.
He said theses character are obviously afraid of Maduka popularity and the goodwill and wanted him out of the way so they can lower the bar for political office holders and entrench a culture of low expectations for Anambra people .
“Nevertheless, we have seen through their antics. We will not be deterred in our resolve to maintain an issue based campaign, keeping our eyes on the goal which is transformation of Anambra’s socio- political economy. We refuse to be drawn into a mud fight with people of questionable integrity. Like Michelle Obama once said, “when they go low, we go high, “he said .
