Ebonyi APC, PDP bicker over harassment allegation against Umahi

There seems to be no end in sight yet for the dispute between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State, as the leaders continued their media war yesterday.

Ebonyi APC leaders, at a press conference in Abuja, lampooned the PDP caucus in the National Assembly over its recent statements in the media against Governor David Umahi.

The APC leaders, including serving and former members of the National Assembly, described the allegation that the governor was using operatives of the newly-established Ebubeagu to intimidate members of the opposition as false.

Last week, PDP members in the National Assembly led by former Governor Sam Egwu had accused Umahi of unleashing terror on his opponents.

“Today, Ebonyi is awash with weapons supplied and distributed by the state government to persons who are undocumented and untrained in weapons handling, ostensibly for use against perceived political opponents,” they said.

But at another press conference in Abuja, yesterday, APC leaders led by Senator Julius Ucha, urged Ebonyi leaders across political parties to think of how to make things less damaging to the country’s corporate and social wellbeing, instead of spreading propaganda in the media.

According Ucha, this is not a time for political brickbats, finger-pointing, blame game, acrimony or engaging in foul language; it is a time for seeking solution and working towards collective and social harmony.

The group expressed concern about “provocative statements” against the governor.

It added: “We are pained when, on Tuesday May 18, 2021, some PDP National Assembly members from Ebonyi, led by Senator Samuel Egwu, addressed the press and made wild, provocative and tendentious allegations against the APC-led government in Ebonyi.

“We are, however, shocked that they did not retract their statement, knowing well that this is a security matter that should not be trivialised or politicised, more so against the background that the governor’s actions were based on decisions jointly taken by all the governors of the South East, irrespective of party affiliation, and that our governor, being the chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum (SEGF), had to lead the implementation process. If this is not commendable and proactive leadership, we do not know what is.

“We, therefore, condemn the contents of the press conference in its entirety.”

The APC chieftains said there was no evidence to show that Ebubeagu had harassed anybody.

“What one would have expected the Ebonyi PDP caucus to come up with ways to support the efforts of the governor in securing the people of Ebonyi, rather than descending into crass partisanship,” they added