Senator alleges threat to life, Ebonyi commissioner debunks claims

Representative of Ebonyi Central Senatorial District, Obinna Ogba, has alleged that Governor Dave Umahi was plotting to assassinate him.

Ogba, who made the accusation at a media briefing in Abuja, yesterday, said he decided to cry out following the governor’s open threats to him and called on Nigerians to hold Umahi responsible should anything untoward happen to him or any member of his family.

He said the governor had openly accused him and three other persons of sponsoring cultists and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) just to distabilise the state.

“In a national media briefing held at the Executive Council Chambers in Abakaliki on Friday, November 27, 2020, Umahi, made a very damaging and unfounded report against my person and three other prominent persons from Ebonyi State.

“Ordinarily, I could have treated that media briefing as mere gibberish, but coming from a sitting governor, it becomes very necessary to give it the needed attention in order to invite full scrutiny of the dangerous recklessness inherent in the utterances of a Chief Security Officer (CSO) of a state”.

Ogba insisted that given the weight of the allegations Governor Umahi made against him, he deemed it fit to respond to the charges.

“Specifically, when Umahi made the accusation to instigate crisis in Ebonyi State, he brought the matter into the realm of criminal law.

“Whether he is ignorant of the crime of joint enterprise to commit an unlawful or harmful act or not, Umahi must provide evidence that led him to make such grievous allegations against innocent citizens who were his conveyor belts to his present status as a two-term Governor of Ebonyi State,” he added.

But in a swift reaction, Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Ebonyi State, Orji Uchenna Orji, described Ogba’s accusations as baseless, unwarranted, scandalous, and irresponsible.

“Senator Ogba’s statement is a political trick from a rejected representative, who is crying foul over non-existent and imaginative allegation. As a government, we are not interested in responding to his allegation.

Governor Umahi has moved forward in his quest to allow peace reign, no matter the level of distraction and provocation by his detractors.

“The governor has publicly directed all government officials not to abuse anybody or take any unjustifiable actions against anybody. I will, therefore, advise Ogba to respect the opinion of the people that elected him and play his politics conventionally. Our Government is not distracted at all. When politics comes, we shall play it well and we wish him well,” he stated.