Campaign Bill Board Attack: Ebonyi APGA Candidate Accuses Umahi, Says Action Sign Of Cowardice

…Issues stern warning to Gov. Umahi, youths

…Wants candidates to attack issues, not campaign materials, individuals As the 2023 general elections draw closer, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate in Ebonyi State, Professor Benard Ifeanyi Odoh, has accused the state governor, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, of using his political thugs to intimidate opposition candidates in the state, especially the destruction of campaign billboards.

During a press conference Tuesday in Abakaliki, Odoh described Umahi as a coward who is frightened by the growing popularity and acceptability of APGA by Ebonyians, hence his resorting to all evil means to intimidate the opposition and foist his unpopular All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru, on the people. The SSG Emeritus implored Umahi to give peace a chance in Ebonyi as no form of intimidation by his thugs, especially Ebubeagu, will deter the people from voting APGA.

According to him, “Series of events in the last couple of days in Ebonyi State have left sour tastes in the mouth of many Nigerians who have followed with daze, the limitless intimidations, harassments and attacks on opposition elements and as habitual, the denials cum reactions emanating from the government of Engr. David Nweze Umahi. “Ebonyians woke up Monday, August 22, 2023 to discover that billboards belonging to the leading Governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections, Professor Benard Ifeanyi Odoh bearing his image and that of his Deputy, Dr. Nkata Chukwu in the Abakaliki capital city and some other parts of the State have been removed in the locations where they had been strategically placed. “We would sadly recall that the last couple of days have witnessed increased attacks on opposition elements even within the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and indeed, all those whom the State government considers ‘potential threats’ to their game of wits and desperate plot to foist an utterly ‘unpopular candidate’ on the people of Ebonyi State. “Since the public pronouncement of the said ‘candidate’, many members of the old APC, including serving appointees have since developed cold feet; leaving the Party in a suspense and limbo as to those who may eventually fly the Party’s flags in the 2023 general elections.” He added: “Just last weekend, the media was again awash with reports alleging an attack by men of the State’s Security outfit- Ebubeagu on Women’s August meeting which had been billed to take place at the People’s Club Abakaliki, a property owned by a private business individual. It was alleged that following sustained gunshots inside the said venue by the supposed security outfit, some of the women were injured as they were forced out of the venue. “The real motive of the desperate Umahi government and his agents as alleged is widely known to the world; to perhaps cause and instill fears on peaceful and peace-loving Ebonyians so that the fear would deter them from campaigning and performing their civic responsibilities in the 2023 general elections. “It ridicules our beloved Ebonyi State that August meetings which have since become an annual ceremony that attract guests from all over the world to the Igbo land and even beyond- a gathering that affords our mothers the privilege and opportunity to chart a way forward for communal progress is also reportedly considered a ‘threat’ to Umahi and his power hungry liveried servants. What a shameful act of abnormal cowardice for a man who has presided over the affairs of nearly four million Ebonyians in the past over seven years! “Unfortunately, the power honey-comb which he had been licking and dealing ruthlessly with all segments and sectors of the Ebonyi fabric, perhaps thinking it won’t be exhausted must surely come to an end on May 29th, 2023 and the days of reckoning and human judgments shall begin immediately. “Despite its much touted but already floundering achievements, particularly in the area of infrastructural developments, the fear of losing power have so much become of tremendous concern to Engr. Umahi and his numerous army of occupations that rather than canvass for the support of the electorate through the ballot by showcasing its so-called numerous achievements, it has rather resorted to attacks, intimidations and harassments of those they consider as ‘threats’. “It is now so deplorably shameful that even the mere sight of a candidate’s campaign billboards frightens the Umahi government and its agents even while still wielding power. “For us in the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, who are truly and ideologically progressives in the real sense of the word, we had, since we set out for our consultations in June and even in our numerous media appearances, maintained a very robust and healthy engagement with both the stakeholders of different political parties and the Ebonyi electorates. AUG 22, 2022 2023: Anambra LP candidate reveals why he left PD AUG 22, 2022 “Recall that when I paid a consultative visit to the APC Governorship candidate and Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ogbonna Nwifuru, I had informed the press that part of the aim of my visit was for us to synergize to make the 2023 elections in Ebonyi issues-based. “I said that there were no love lost between one politician and the other even though they belong to different political parties, especially in an era where the Electoral Act has rendered thuggery and the use of violence almost irrelevant. This is simply because any attack (s) on any Polling Unit can only lead to cancellation of elections and results not returned in such areas. “We have also visited several serving government appointees and leaders within and beyond the shores of the State all in our bid to tell Ebonyians what we are prepared to do from day one when we are eventually elected into power. It is on record that no other candidate (so-called), I repeat, NO CANDIDATE has reached out directly to the electorate with its campaign plans, manifestos and overall blueprint like we have done in the last couple of weeks or months. “That is what democracy and the law entails and rightly provides for. I have consistently maintained before you (the esteemed members of the press) that the only threat or challenger I face going into the Ebonyi 2023 Governorship election are the issues of hunger and multi-dimensional poverty facing us as a people. “I said that I have a better economic blueprint, including detailed plans for the critical sectors of health, education and agriculture which we believe will turn around the fortunes of our dear people very positively. It is audible to the deaf and visible to the blind that our people have been reduced to common hawkers and messengers across several cities of Nigeria. “The law does not permit any citizen in any way or form, no matter how highly placed and whoever may be sending such an individual and not also minding the kind of State apparatus he may think is backing his actions to unleash mayhem on a candidate of another political party he considers an opposition, his or her supporters or even his campaign materials. “The genesis of the mindless attacks on our billboards which occurred last night, Sunday, August 21, 2022 (because we saw it still hanging hours after the professional handlers, Rocana Nigeria Ltd had hung them) was that the State government, obviously jittery of the momentum gained by our consultative engagements in the State so far pasted a “Remove Ads” notices on them. “The “Remove Ads” was as a result of our advertising handlers’ refusal to surrender the billboards, which we had already paid for, to the APC Candidate, who had earlier requested for them at all cost. Rocana are not in any way and form owing the state government. “As law abiding citizens, who understand the place of professional engagements in matters such as this, it was only incumbent that we reach out and inform the advertising agency- Rocana, which has professionally operated in the state and the entire south east in the last few decades, about the “remove ads” notices placed by the Ebonyi State Government on the billboards with its official seal. They promised to reach the state government and get back to us as soon as practicable. “Some hours after, we discovered that the billboards have already been torn and removed forcefully, suspectedly by desperate agents of the state government. “Some of the billboards are still hanging, facing downwards and there have been no explanation offered the professional advertising agent- Rocana, who has maintained that it has been paying the Ebonyi State Government its taxes, dues and other rates as and when due. “This to us is an act of cowardice by Governor Umahi and his army of political bandits. To prove our fears and suspicion right about the ill-intentions of these dastard and coward actors, we discovered that other places where the same Rocana had billboards of other products were not touched and neither was the same “remove ads” notices placed on them.” He added: “At this juncture, it behooves on us and the entire APGA family as responsible, peace-loving and law abiding political party and citizens to; i. Request the authorities of the Nigerian Police Force, Ebonyi State Command to immediately commence investigations, arrest and prosecute those suspected to be behind this unlawful conduct. The police must leave no stone unturned in this regard, least they set a wrong example. “ii. Sound this as a last warning note to the government and its agents, particularly its multiple armed thugs masquerading as ‘Ebubeagu’ to desist from, I emphasize; avoid being used under any guise or platform to attack APGA campaign materials, members or supporters. For the consequences of any such further attack on the party- campaign materials or humans and the opposition in Ebonyi in general would not be “TOLERATED”. “iii. The youths, whose future and destinies, including those of their children and wards have been terribly destroyed by the inhuman actions and policies of the present-day government should remember that “when the chips are down, their oppressive ’emperor’ would take the next available flight to the countries they have already stashed enough of our collective wealth and resources and abandon them to their fate to sort themselves out. “And for the Umahi-led government, which has continued to live in cowardice, thinking it can perpetually keep the opposition parties in suspended terror in order to intimidate the electorate into abandoning their civic obligations, we wish to posit that the resoluteness of the APGA family and indeed, the entire Ebonyi electorate to not only canvass support for their genuinely preferred candidates, vote and defend same in next year’s general elections is even now, most unwavering. “Their actions are rather emboldening Ebonyians from across all works of life to ensure that a government that would guarantee the rights to their freedoms as enshrined in our various laws emerge victorious at the polls next year. This is more audacious because there’s often a limit to which a people can endure pains! “As they plan to instigate crises and unleash terror on the electorate as that is all they allegedly boast of during their secret meetings, the government should remember first and foremost that the oath it swore to protect lives and property of all Ebonyians, according to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) have not and will not expire till the 29th day of May 2023 when it shall handover to a newly elected government. More so is the fact that they have no monopoly of violence! As I will always say: what lies ahead of us are far greater than what is behind us.”