APGA chief to Tony Nwoye, Idu: Empower slain Justice Azuka’s widow, not squander ₦200m on her election

By Our Correspondent

The National Coordinator of the APGA Media Warriors Forum, Evangelist Chinedu Obigwe, has urged Senator Tony Nwoye to stop dragging Mrs. Justin Azuka, widow of the late Justice Azuka, into partisan politics.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Obigwe said it was unfortunate that Mrs. Azuka had been persuaded to enter the race for the August 16 Onitsha North 1 Constituency bye-election, barely months after the death of her husband.

“This is a widow that is supposed to be mourning the unfortunate demise of her husband and looking after their children, but she has unfortunately abdicated that responsibility to be chasing shadows in the guise of contesting the August 16 bye-election,” Obigwe said.

He maintained that the late Justice Azuka “will be turning in his grave” that his wife has been “brainwashed into joining the murky waters of politics.”

According to Obigwe, the decision to contest exposes her to risks and distractions that will not help her family.

“The truth that I told someone close to Nwoye is that they are not helping Justin Azuka. Rather, they are destroying her and committing the sacrilegious sin of making the woman not focus her attention on taking care of the kids Azuka left behind for her,” he added.

Obigwe advised that if Senator Nwoye, Idu Emeka and others pushing her into the race genuinely care about her welfare, “they will raise between ₦50 million to ₦100 million and give to her to go into any business of her choice that will empower her for life and put her in a position to look after herself and her children.”

The APGA Media Warriors Coordinator compared politics to a “gambling game,” warning that those urging her on could spend “₦100 million to ₦200 million” during the election but abandon her if she loses.

He urged Mrs. Azuka to emulate the example of the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah’s wife, who, despite pressure from Senate colleagues, declined to enter the race for her husband’s vacant seat and chose instead to focus on her family.

Obigwe màintained that using the late Justice Azuka’s death for political sympathy is “a sacrilegious sin” and that Mrs. Azuka has made “a very bad decision that she will end up regretting after August 16.”

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) recently offered Mrs. Azuka its ticket for the August 16 by-election in the Onitsha North 1 State Constituency, following the abduction of her husband on the 2024 Christmas Eve and the subsequent discovery of his body in a bush near the River Niger head bridge.

In addition, her late husband’s party, the Labour Party, has pledged its support for her by deciding not to field any candidate in the August poll.