C.I.D. Maduabum

By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

It takes enormous hard work behind the scenes for the superstars to shine in front of the cameras and under the klieg lights. In politics, the workaholics at the engine-room are hardly ever seen or celebrated. Hon C.I.D. Maduabum LL.M, MNIM, the Director-General of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum exemplifies the trusted behind-the-scenes principal who delivers the goods.

A Masters Degree holder in Law, Maduabum has distinguished himself as a legal practitioner for nearly 40 years. He has been elected into the House of Representatives two times. As a two-term Member of the House, he left formidable legacies on the sands of time.

A much sought-after experienced administrator, he served as a former Deputy Chief of Staff and then Chief of Staff to former presiding officers in the National Assembly.

Maduabum has indeed paid his dues in politics having been the Special Assistant to the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology from 1993 to 1995. He was the Special Assistant to the Honourable Minister, Special Duties 1 in The Presidency in 1995. Between 2001 and 2002, he was the Chairman of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).

From March 2002 to November 2002, he was the Hon. Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives and Tourism in his native Anambra State.

He served as Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary in the National Assembly, Abuja from 2005 to 2007. He was Member, House Committee on Population, Marine Transport, Health, Science & Technology, Narcotic Drugs & Financial Crimes, Emergency & Disaster Management, and Commerce between 2005 and 2007.

Maduabum upped the ante as Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions from 2007 to 2011

He became appointed the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011 and worked meritoriously up to 2015 before in the same year becoming the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position he held until becoming the incumbent Director-General of the PDP Governors’ Forum in 2019.

A native of Ukpor in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Maduabum is at the epicentre of the revival of the PDP, working tirelessly with the personable Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Executive Governor of Sokoto State, alongside all the other governors of the party.

A hands-on administrator, Maduabum publishes the Forum’s e-zine and showcases “PDP Governors in Action”. He is always available with sources and sundry materials needed about the party and the laudable plans for Nigeria.

He has proven to be a loyal party man from the beginning. He began to attract national attention when he was among the winners of the 2003 National Assembly elections in Anambra State whose victories were clandestinely upturned after INEC had announced them as winners!

As a staunch believer in the rule of law, he went to court to reclaim his hard-won victory. Senator Ben Obi was in the league of the denied Anambra State winners, and he won more than a score or so court victories before the then-Senate President Adolf Wabara got into trouble with the powers-that-be for allowing him to be sworn-in to sit in the Senate!

Maduabum’s torturous march into the House of Representatives did not deter him at all. In fact it served to embolden his resolve the more to say the truth to power.

It’s remarkable that he joined forces with Senator Ben Obi amongst others to thwart the then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Third Term plot. He was in the league of Senator Uche Chukwumerije in insisting on the respect of term limits, and he was determined to pay the price for standing for the truth which included not being allowed the party platform to return to the National Assembly.

I remember visiting with Maduabum in a Victoria Island, Lagos Hotel where one of his colleagues in the House of Representatives who was supporting the Third Term plan was in hiding, claiming to be on admittance in hospital, after a former Nigerian leader had dared him to collect the tenure elongation windfall of bribery!

Maduabum was denied the PDP ticket to re-contest for a return to the House of Representatives because of his principled stand. He refused to bow the knee to oppression and has since forged ahead.

Now that his party, the PDP, has been out of power since 2015, Nigerians have come face-to-face with the reality that it is only when a woman marries two husbands that she can truly know the difference. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has superintended over a Nigeria in which the exchange rate of the dollar has fallen to N570 from N170, and the price of the bag of rice has become N28,000 instead of N8,500.

With Maduabum in the engine room of the PDP Governor’s Forum, the party can truly forge ahead to a victorious revival from 2023 onwards.