Maduka: Governing Anambra State Will Be a Walk in the Park

Dr. Godwin Maduka, Anambra governorship candidate of Accord tells Nseobong Okon-Ekong why he is sure of victory in the November 6 election

This particular governorship election Anambra has become unusual with candidates moving out of the state to campaign to Anambrarians outside Anambra. What does that mean, because you are not speaking to the people who are in the state, you are speaking to Anambrarians outside

We have to do what we have to do to get our message across. This makes it so hard to campaign . The only unfortunate thing is that it might affect the election itself. I know that I have more than what it takes to be the governor. All efforts have to be made by me to make sure I sell myself to Ndi Anambra. The other people have nothing to lose. They are gamblers. They have come in to see if by some method they can win. I am not a gambler in politics. I need a platform like that to continue what I have done in the past and in my town to the rest of Ndi Anambra . It makes it a little bit difficult.

However, prior to the serious insecurity, people of Anambra had received all of us, going around the state to sell our agenda, campaigning to them. So, if you have not reached most of the people at the grassroots by now, then you are not supposed to be running for the governor, anyway. We had a lot of time to talk to the voters. I think the serious insecurity started two days after I finished my ward round .

INEC has said there won’t be voting in over 80 Polling Units. I want your reaction to that

If there are no voters, there shouldn’t be any voting over there. That is INEC showing that they mean business. Every politician is asking me, ‘have you talked to INEC’?’ Why should we talk to INEC? If INEC means business and they are independent, they will make sure that nobody tampers with that result and the best man will be the governor. I will actually give them kudos for doing that, otherwise it will get to the hands of political opponents who will put some ghost voters there.

How are you taking the issue of your running mate, your deputy going to another party?

He is still my deputy. The Electoral Act is clear about that. He knows the law. As far as I concerned he is still with me, legally bound. He can’t get the membership card of any political party until after November 6. If he wanted to leave, he should have left a long time ago to allow a substitution. I am not worried about that. My candidature is intact. I have been cleared to run. Even I can’t say I am not running anymore. There is nothing that can stop him from winning the election with me. He can’t decamp to another party until after November 6. I have been researching this. If I win, he wins. He can decide to resign after that and we get somebody else. Human beings are who they are. He can’t do any harm to the governor. He can’t do any harm to the candidature. I am the principal. After we are sworn in, I make the decisions. I will try to give him work to do as my deputy, eventhough he has shown now that he can’t be trusted . If he still insists on decamping, the law is clear on that. Until November 6, he is in Accord, nobody can legally give him the membership card of any other political party now, because it is a joint ticket and both of us were cleared.

What impression did you come away with as you went around on tour of wards?

It proved to me that I made the right decision to leave the comfort of my surroundings in the United States of America to come to Africa to run for governor. I was able to validate my reasons for running for governor. I saw so much hardship, hunger and poor standard of living. This gave me the resolve to continue the governorship race, which I believe I am going to win, unless there are no persons with common sense in Anambra and I know that the people have common sense. You see what I have done. I have singlehandedly built a town like a state. Now I want to build a state to look like a country. It is not saying, I can do this and that, show me what you have done. From what you have done, that will tell us what you are going to do. Governing Anambra State will be a walk in the park. Fifty percent of the funds I need will come from foreign investment.

How are you going to assure your supporters of their safety when they come to vote and to standby their vote?

That is what I am doing now. I have my people all the ward chairmen, who will be going from house-to-house in their ward, telling folks we are making sure it will be fine. The best thing is that they will be voting in the confines of their own environment where they know everybody. Anybody else you see outside, then you have to raise the alarm. I call on vigilante groups to make sure that they are watching everybody who comes in and out. There might be sporadic shooting here and there, but it is not going to stop the election. The people who are illegitimate want to have this kind of shooting so that they can rig the election . But Anambra State can’t reject her son who is a world class in Medicine, a business guru, a philanthropist of the millennium, a peoples man and go for a riff-raff, by whatever description. I have this confidence that I will win.

Some of your supporters have expressed concern that the security agencies may be supporting the candidate of the APC. Do you share this concern?

I will support the APC of they had the right candidate. APC is not a bad party, but with somebody like Andy Ubah who has no educational qualification, did not emerge from a fair primary and carries a lot of baggage, I have no respect for them. To make it worse, they never conducted a primary, but now you are heading into the general election. APC would have had a chance had it not been for the involvement of Andy in the whole thing. With Andy Ubah as their flag bearer, they have no chance. He can buy all the councillors, all the state assembly men , all members of the House of Representatives, but can these people go back to their wards?