Imo Denies Donating Land For Cattle Grazing |The Source

By Charles Igbo

The Imo State Government has described as fake, irresponsible and  mischievous, a statement making the rounds, purportedly signed by the Chief Press Secreatary/ Media Adviser to Governor Hope Uzodinma, Oguwike Nwachuku,  to the effect that it was donating hectares of land to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for the purpose of Cattle grazing.

The story, which Oguwike said emanated from criminals who want to destabilise the state was said to have been made by Uzodinma during a meeting in Abuja with the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

In a strongly-worded statement denying that he issued such a statement, Oguwike said he was not aware of any such promise to donate land to the CBN for the purposes of Cattle grazing made by the Governor.

Nwachuku drew the attention of the public to such other fake statements, wickedly, issued in his name, and asked the public to treat the recent one as the trash that it is.

The full statement, as signed by Nwachuku, titled: Another Attempt To Discredit  Uzodinma Over Grazing Reserves Fails reads:

“The attention of the Office of the Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has been drawn to a fake report suggesting that His Excellency met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, and purportedly told him that Imo would be donating land to the Federal Ministry of  Agriculture for purposes of grazing.

“The report credited to the Office of the Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the Governor is not only false and fake, but mishievously done to discredit the Governor and Emefiele.

“No such meeting, to the knowledge of the Office of the Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the Governor took place to warrant the statement that was mischievously and criminally done by the authors of the fake report.

“While the Governor works so hard under the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic to reposition Imo State to be productive, some politically exposed  irascible goons sit down somewhere to churn out  stuff that are obviously aimed at disorienting Imo  and putting the State under perpetual underdevelopment.

“Much as the reading public are already familiar with the mindset of the persons whose stock in trade is to manufacture fake and gutter news, the Governor can never be deterred from his vision of recovering, rehabilitating and recovering Imo from the clutches of those who want the State to remain in a state of pity while others are making steady progress. For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Uzodimma’s Shared Prosperity is real.

“Members of the public are, therefore, advised to ignore the piece as trash and to regard the authors as those who are not only mentally deranged but need to be pitied.

“They are better seen as never-do-wells, and are so blinded to see those who have committed their time, energy and other resources to help them do well.”

This is not the first time the Government would be denying such fake statements purportedly issued on its behalf by the Office of the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the Governor.

They include, but not limited to the fake news on the renaming of the Imo State University to Malam Abba Kyari University, in honour of the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam  Abba Kyari, and the building of five Almajiri Schools, each, in the three Senatorial Zones of the State.