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A southern candidate should fly PDP’s flag in Anambra – Maduka

Dr. Godwin Maduka is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Anambra State. In this interview with OKEY MADUFORO, he speaks on his vision for the state and the party’s chances in the election, among other issues

Your party is set to conduct a primary election to elect its candidate for the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State but issues are beginning to emerge about the template for the exercise. What are your thoughts on the exercise?

The position of the party is supreme on how the primary election would be conducted and I have nothing to worry about the exercise. Only those who are not prepared are jittery about the election. Also, only those who are not on ground are apprehensive about the primary election.

What makes you think so when the leadership of the party is in dispute?

There are matters in the court which I know but I am not a lawyer to talk about them. All I know is that the PDP is one family and we are going for the election and we are contesting to win.

Recently the sixteen aspirants met at Olisa Metu’s house and agreed to peg the cost of mobilization and lobbying. What is your take on that?

I am in total support of the resolution because I was part of the meeting and this will go a long way in helping members of the party and not money bags to nominate the candidate, who will fly PDP’s flag in the November election. We commend Chief Olisa Metu for taking that bold step in gathering all of us together to agree on this issue and we as aspirants accepted to do it that way because it is good for our party.

But you are being accused of overshooting the sum agreed upon…

That is not true. Anyone telling you that is doing so because he or she knows that I am going to win the primary election and they are doing everything possible to stop me. But they know that they cannot stop me no matter how they try. When people cannot build a strong structure and they fail to mobilize party members, they resort to name calling and name dropping. I have a foundation which is different from my campaign organization and it is totally independent of my campaign organization and this is what everyone must know. Whoever that is alleging that I went against the agreement reached by all the aspirants is only being mischievous and funny.

The national leadership of the PDP has said that is not zoning the party’s ticket. What is your view on that?

Equity is equally and when you trace the history of Anambra politics, you will discover that Anambra South Senatorial District has been there for only about six years, the North has been there for almost eight years and the Central for 13 years. So, equity demands that it is the turn of the South, where I come from. I am not challenging what the national leadership of the party said but it would be fair and just for Anambra South to produce the next governor of the state.

Most of the PDP governorship aspirants are from the south senatorial district; do you foresee a situation that will throw up a consensus candidate?

We are together in this struggle and I believe that at the end of the primary election, a southern candidate will emerge. We have also agreed to support a southern candidate and there is no fear about that. The number of aspirants in the contest is an indication that we are desirous of getting the governorship seat to Anambra South and you will see how it will happen.

You have always said that you are the best, what makes you think so?

Yes I am the best and you know that. My contributions to the assistance of the masses speak volume of my capacity as a man set to serve as the governor of Anambra State. We are talking about development of the state through mechanized agriculture, youth empowerment, quality education and improved health sector. As a practitioner in the medical field, I have hospitals and other medical services which I have already attracted and built as an individual. When you talk about youth empowerment, I have empowered more youths than any other aspirant in the party and I stand to be corrected. As a party man and a loyal one for that matter, I have been able to build capacity for the party and none of my fellow aspirants have done that. I have concluded arrangement to establish a world class university with campuses across the three senatorial districts in the state and this would provide job opportunities for our graduates. We have a blueprint for vocational education for our youths who may want to be self-employed and they would partner with multinational agencies and other international bodies through exchange programmes for professionals, and this is the only way to fight unemployment in Anambra State. In the power sector, we have what we call waste to wealth, where we covert what you call waste to energy and which would be paid for by electricity consumers.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) government in the state is insisting that there is no vacancy in the government house, what do you make of that?

That is their own take on that, but the Anambra electorate will decide if the current government of APGA has done well or not. I want to assure you that my party will return to the government house, Awka.

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