The immediate past Governor of Imo State and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, has distanced himself from a story which alleged that he called the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, crafty.
The story which, also, alleged that Ihedioha asked the Igbo to wait till 2031 before making a bid for the Presidency, went viral on Monday, August 8, 2021.
But in a Press Release signed by his Media Aide, Chibuike Onyeukwu, Ihedioha said he never made such statements. The statement attributed the story to one of the many orchestrated efforts by political opponents and their collaborators who are afraid of squaring up against Ihedioha in the coming elections.
The full text reads:
RE – 2023: Igbos Should Wait Till 2031, Peter Obi is Crafty
“Our attention has been drawn to another fake news, with the above caption, circulated in some social media platforms.
“This is one of the many orchestrated efforts by political opponents of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha CON and their collaborators who are afraid of squaring up against him in the coming elections.
“It is noteworthy that, His Excellency did not grant any interview in Abuja or elsewhere as claimed.
“His Excellency is known to acquit himself in the most civil, decent and respectful manner and therefore could not have employed such uncouth words.
“We are aware that the purveyors of these unfounded reports are unrelenting in their desperation to impugn His Excellency’s integrity and reputation.
“The public therefore is alerted and indeed advised to kindly ignore and disregard the fake news.”
The Imo political field is filled with fake news. It is a competition between the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The question is which fabricates more fake news to undermine the other.
Ihedioha was declared Governor of the State in 2019. But he was removed from office after seven months by the Supreme Court which declared Uzodinma the duly elected Governor. Since then, politics in the State has been at its bitterest.
Ihedioha is expected to fly the PDP flag again in 2023, and will square-up with Uzodinma who will be seeking a second term in office.
