Matthew Ifeanyi Nwagwu is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician who was elected Senator for the Imo North constituency of

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the April 2011 national elections. He ran on the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) platform.

Background

In November 2001, Matthew Ifeanyi Nwagwu was Nigeria's deputy representative to the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

's General Council. He was highly critical of a draft treaty to be discussed at

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, saying "The text generally accommodates in total the interests of developed countries while disregarding the concerns of the developing and least developed countries". Speaking in July 2004 on behalf of the Africa Group, Nwagwu said the group expected an all-inclusive and transparent process in further work on the draft decision to be adopted at the WTO General Council meeting of 27–29 July.

Senate

In the January 2011 PDP primaries for the Okigwe senatorial zone, Matthew Nwagwu won with 2,128 votes, ahead of the previous Secretary to the Government of Imo State, Chief Cosmas Iwu, who gained 129 votes. Cosmas, younger brother of former

Independent National Electoral Commission The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria. History Regulation and administration of elections The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...

Chairman, Professor

Maurice Iwu Maurice Mmaduakolam Iwu (born 21 April 1950) is a Nigerian Professor of Pharmacognosy who was appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in June 2005, and was removed from office in April 2010. Background Maurice Mm ...

, had resigned his appointment in order to compete. Nwagwu, who had a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree, was aged 67 at this time. In the 6 April 2011 election, former ambassador Nwagwu was elected as Senator of Imo North with 60,449 votes, ahead of runner up Chief Cosmas Nkemjika Iwu who had moved to the

Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several othe ...

(ACN) and won 47,258 votes. In a 2011 interview, Nwagwu expressed desire to help with the image of Nigerians abroad, citing problems such as not paying their debts and being involved with drugs.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Nigeria-politician-stub