The Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a party with little political presence in the state, following the controversy surrounding the visit of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for a town hall meeting.
This was just as the party accused the NDC of making false allegations against the Enugu State Government over the venue for the event.
Recall that hours before Obi’s visit last week, the NDC camp alleged that the state government had directed the owners of the venue booked for the town hall meeting to deny the party access.
Although the event eventually held, the venue owners reportedly maintained that the NDC had not booked the facility directly but had used a medical organisation as a front.
In a statement on Sunday, Steve Oruruo, Spokesperson and Director of Public Communications of the Enugu APC Campaign Council, accused the NDC of orchestrating what he described as a series of false allegations.
Oruruo said, “Silence could have been golden, save for the brazen frivolity that characterised the chronicled and dramatised falsehood intentionally deployed to embarrass and impugn the image of the entire state, and invariably validate their next lie in the sequence of street-level mendacities, while an unsuspecting section of the populace may remain confused.”
He urged residents to reject what he described as the NDC’s antics and attempts to mislead the public.
The APC spokesman said the explanation by the event centre owners had exposed what he called the party’s alleged deception.
He claimed that one Dr Sabastine Chuks Eze had initially approached the facility’s management while presenting himself as the Registrar of the Nigeria Institute of Healthcare Givers and Medical Social Work Practitioners.
According to Oruruo, Eze had agreed to the management’s right to stop activities that violated its rules of engagement before the arrangement allegedly turned into an NDC contract to host a town hall meeting for Obi.
Oruruo also accused Mrs Ada Ogbu and other NDC members of attempting to mislead residents through what he described as unsubstantiated allegations against the state government.
“Where is the ecclesiastical rectitude, untainted probity, and self-acclaimed morality that former Governor Peter Obi preaches? Have they not been cascaded to Enugu NDC members?” he queried.
Describing the party’s political presence in the state as insignificant, Oruruo declared that “Enugu NDC has failed on arrival. It is almost non-existent in Enugu and perhaps gains its only infinitesimal traction whenever the state government or the name of our erudite Governor is mentioned in its tales of woes.”
He further alleged that linking the state government to unverified claims was inconsistent with the security profile and political atmosphere of Enugu State.
The APC called on Ada Ogbu to apologise to residents, saying she would eventually realise the extent to which her actions had offended their sensibilities.
Oruruo, however, said the 2027 elections should be centred on issues, ideas and the capacity of political parties to deliver, adding that Enugu remained peaceful and accommodating.
Meanwhile, Obi had vowed to personally join efforts to rescue kidnapped Nigerians if elected president in 2027.
Speaking at the town hall meeting in Enugu State on Thursday, the NDC presidential candidate criticised President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, saying the country needed a president who would take direct responsibility for addressing insecurity.
“If there is a general bush, I will be in that bush with them,” Obi said.
He added, “As President of Nigeria, I will unite Nigeria. As President of Nigeria, I will secure Nigeria. We will deal with insecurity. I will not be president and somebody will kidnap our children; we will enter the bush together.”