EDITORIAL: Anambra By-election – Spare Justice Azuka’s Widow More Tears: A Plea for Empathy

BY TONY OKAFOR

Mrs. Justina Amaka Azuka, widow of the late Honourable Justice Azuka, has been nominated by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its candidate in the forthcoming August 16 by-election.

Her candidacy seeks to fill the seat left vacant after the tragic killing of her husband.

In an admirable act of solidarity, the Labour Party—her late husband’s political platform—has stepped aside, choosing not to field a candidate and pledging full support for her.

Justice Azuka’s death was a wound that shocked Anambra State. He was kidnapped from his Onitsha home on Christmas Eve, and weeks later, his body was found, abandoned by his abductors.

To this day, his killers remain at large, and the pain inflicted on his family and community has yet to heal.

This moment calls for more than politics as usual. We urge Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and all political stakeholders to rise above partisanship and approach this by-election with empathy.

It is within the Governor’s power, as the moral leader of the state, to demonstrate that politics in Anambra can be guided by compassion and fairness.

In fact, there are recent precedents in the state where widows of lawmakers were expressly elected to replace their late husbands—one in the upper chamber of the National Assembly and another in the State House of Assembly—largely on the basis of public sympathy and the need to honour the memory of the departed.

These examples show that empathy-driven politics is neither new nor alien to our democracy.

Mrs. Azuka’s aspiration is not born of ambition. It is rooted in a desire to continue the work of service that her late husband began. Supporting her would be a gesture of solidarity, a sign that even in tragedy, decency can triumph over the harshness of rivalry.

We commend the ADC for offering her its platform and applaud the Labour Party for its maturity and restraint. These gestures show that, at least sometimes, politics can serve the human spirit.

We now call on APGA and the Governor to do the same—if not by stepping aside, then by ensuring that the contest is conducted without malice, bitterness or abuse of power.

Governor Soludo often speaks of his vision for a liveable and prosperous Anambra. That vision must include more than roads and buildings. It must include a humane political culture that shows the state cares for its own, regardless of party colours.

On August 16, the choice before the people of Onitsha North will be about more than a legislative seat. It will be about the values we hold dear as a people.

Let us not compound Mrs. Azuka’s grief. Let us not make her weep again.

Ozoemezina!