Ebonyi gov under fire for rejecting congratulatory messages from opposition candidates
The Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural In the Diaspora, AEISCID, has berated the Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, for rejecting the congratulatory messages of the opposition following his Supreme Court victory.
The apex court had dismissed petitions filed by Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Professor Bernard Odoh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, to challenge Nwifuru’s election.
The President of AEISCID, Paschal Omaka, in a statement issued on Friday, expressed concern that the governor, rather than accept the congratulatory messages from the opposition candidates, was quoted in various social and mainstream media as declaring that “he does not need them or their supporters in his government”.
Berating Nwifuru for making the reported statement, the group said, “The governor’s mindset reeks of brazen lack of wisdom, tact and diplomacy; raising our fears that he may not have the right temperament to occupy the number one office in Ebonyi.
“Such crude and absurd mindset can only breed arrogance that if left unchecked could lead to total dictatorship and of course, a desperate plot to plunge Ebonyi into a one-party state.
“It was ordinarily our belief, just like in democracies the world over, that the messages of congratulations extended to the affirmed winner of the election and Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru, would not only be received with open arms but also open a leeway for concerted discussions on how Ebonyi’s democratic gains and governance can be further consolidated with plurality of ideas from the challengers and their supporters.”
The group, therefore, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the governor and the Ebonyi State Government, to as a matter of urgency, withdraw the statement credited to Nwifuru.
It also asked the governor to tender an unreserved apology to the PDP and APGA candidates.
