Crisis appears to be brewing in the Abia state chapter of the All Progressive Congress(APC) over the statement credited to the member of the Board of Trustee ,(BOT) of the party ,Prince Benjamin Apugo,accusing the seven governorship aspirants who ran platform for the 2019 ,of being sponsored by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
One of the governorship aspirants,Sir Friday Nwosu, has faulted reports describing it as false and intended to smear his hard earned reputation.
Apugo, had in the said interview, alleged that even he APC candidate, Dr. Uche Ogah, was sponsored by Ikpeazu.
Nwosu explained that the statement credited to Apugo is totally false and in bad faith, adding that he never got nor solicited for funds from anybody to run his governorship campaign.
He disclosed that Ikpeazu could not have bought APC governorship nomination form for him when he had two months before the primaries fought the governor to a legal battle before he decamped to the APC.
In his words, “The statement credited to Chief Benjamin Apugo that Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu bought nomination form for all Abia governorship aspirants in 2018/19 election is to say the least, false and reckless. If Gov. Ikpeazu bought nomination form for any aspirant; certainly, he didn’t buy for me, Sir Friday Nwosu. Neither Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, Prince Benjamin Apugo nor any other person bought nomination form for me or contributed money to my governorship campaign. Even the journalist who is said to have interviewed Prince Apugo is aware that Gov. Ikpeazu could not have bought nomination form for me or sponsored me in the APC primaries.
“Few months to the APC governorship primaries, I ended a legal battle for the Abia governorship against Gov. Ikpeazu at the Supreme Court on 13th April 2018. By 2nd June 2018, I declared my intention to run for the governorship again on the platform of APC. I conducted my campaign without soliciting for funds from anybody.
“During my campaign, I also consulted with Prince Apugo without asking for financial assistance from him. Everyone in Abia State and Nigeria knows me and what I stand for. No one gave me money, I earned the money I spent by myself. I’m a hardworking legal practitioner, I do what I do and I mean what I do. Prince Apugo knows me as a man of integrity in the state. This sweeping statement not only arose from fallacy of hasty generalization but also deliberate misinformation on the part of both the alleged maker and publishers. I don’t want to join issues with Prince Apugo , but want to categorically state that it was a mistake and deliberate insult for him to have made such statement on my person.”
Nwosu charged APC members to be cautious about their utterances , adding that the offensive statement ought not to come from an elder of the party in Prince Apugo’s status.
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