Ebonyi State Governor Denies Rejecting Opponents and Supporters in Administration

Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, has refuted claims of rejecting the gubernatorial candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Bernard Odoh, along with their supporters in his administration.

The State Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor, clarified this in a statement released to the press in Abakaliki on Saturday.

Okpor emphasized that the governor never intended to withhold forgiveness, accommodation, or cooperation from his election challengers in court.

He explained, “For the purpose of setting the records straight, the governor, in his usual forthrightness and sincerity of heart, simply narrated the arduous and unpleasant experiences he had during the avoidable litigations from the tribunal through the Appeal to the Supreme Court, where it was finally ruled in his favor.

“The Governor merely expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that one of them reneged on his words by serving him a lawsuit notice a day after their meeting, an action the Governor considers contradictory to his internalized values of integrity and reliability.

He regretted the unwarranted prolonged litigations brought to the government and people of the state, and wished it had never happened.

“Governor Nwifuru did not, in any way, condemn his opponents for seeking redress according to their conscience in courts of competent jurisdiction.

Recall that the governor, being a professing and practical democrat, after winning at the polls, immediately reached out to his opponents with the olive branch which was unfortunately rebuffed.”

Okpor highlighted the governor’s ongoing efforts to accommodate and collaborate with all stakeholders, ensuring peace and unity for the state’s development, irrespective of political affiliations.

“The governor, not relenting, for the good and unity of the state, still approached them individually to sheath their swords, but they were still recalcitrant.

Their going to court, though a huge miscalculation on their part, was considered by the Governor as the best approach, which has eventually brought to rest all the divergent interests, paving the way for a possible corporate action by all and sundry towards the development and continued oneness of the state,” he stressed.

He urged Odii, Odoh, and other citizens to disregard any reports suggesting that the governor rejected accommodating them or their supporters in his government.

“We hereby call on all and sundry whose sensibilities may have been insulted by the uninformed report to discountenance the content as it does not well represent the expressions of the Governor at the meeting,” he concluded.