Stella Oduah, the senator representing Anambra North District, has had her third term bid rejected by the Anambra North Elders Forum.
Mrs. Oduah is running for re-election to the Red Chamber on the Peoples Democratic Party platform in 2023. (PDP).
According to a report in the Vanguard newspaper, the Anambra North Elders Forum, a pressure group in the district, held a meeting on Thursday in Otuocha, a community in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, where its members said Mrs Oduah, having represented Anambra North District for nearly eight years, has taken her fair share of representation of the district’s people.
The group’s chairperson, Nathaniel Onuora, told reporters after the meeting that the senator has not “effectively represented” the district in the last seven years.
“Odua’s voice was not heard clearly and loudly in the Red Chamber defending her people as others were doing or proposing interest bills that would benefit their constituents,” he said.
“After our meeting today here in Otuocha, we resolved to reject the senator’s third term bid to represent Anambra North District in the Senate.
“She has not done well. We are not aware of any bills or motions she sponsored in the National Assembly’s upper chamber. “In almost eight years of representing the zone, (she) failed miserably to empower people, despite the vast sums of money that accrued to her office,” Mr Onuora added.
The group stated that it wants a senator who is approachable and will make himself or herself available to constituents.
“We don’t want someone who is constantly attending to cases with anti-corruption agencies,” the statement said.
Oduah responds
Mrs. Oduah’s spokesperson, Chinonso Chukwudebe, responded by calling the allegations “political gimmicks” sponsored by the senator’s political enemies in order to blackmail her.
Mr Chukwudebe stated that all of the allegations were false.
He said the senator has been assisting her constituents through her “various empowerment programmes”.
“Only yesterday, this woman (Oduah) distributed 99 shuttle buses to all 99 wards in Anambra North District. She also distributed over 500 motorcycles, 300 tricycles, and grinding machines. “All of this is verifiable,” he said on Saturday.
In response to the claim that Mrs. Oduah did not sponsor bills and motions in the Senate, the senator’s spokesperson stated that the senator has sponsored the most important bills and motions.
“A bill to establish the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Onitsha has been passed. “That was (sponsored) by this same senator,” Mr Chukwudebe said, explaining that the bill will result in the General Hospital Onitsha being converted to FMC.
He also stated that the senator has completed various road projects and constructed classroom blocks throughout the district, among other things.
“When the Covid-19 was hitting hard, Senator Stella Oduah released palliatives that no other senator in the South-east did. Palliatives were distributed through churches, traditional rulers, and so on,” he added.
According to the spokesperson, the senator has also empowered several widows and farmers throughout the district and has conducted free medical outreach for the people of the district.
Mr Chukwudebe denied that Mrs Oduah is inaccessible, claiming that the senator is currently in the state meeting with constituents.
Mrs. Oduah was elected to represent and defend her constituents in Abuja, he said, and she should not be expected to be in the state all the time.
