The All Progressive Congress, APC, says its governorship candidate in this month’s election in Amabra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, cannot be arrested as being championed by the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, had called for the arrest of Ngige in the aftermath of the stampede at the Holy
At a news conference in Lagos,
southwest Nigeria, on Monday,
Interim Publicity Secretary,
Lagos APC, Mr. Joe Igbokwe
said there was no way Ngige
could be arrested when he was
not at the scene of the tragedy
and that Governor Peter Obi
and his people should be held
responsible for the stampede for
turning a vigil to a political
rally.
“It is with heavy hearts that we
condole the families in
Anambra State who lost their
loved ones in a stampede at the
Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry
in Uke during a vigil organised
by a Catholic priest Rev Fr
Emmanuel Obimma.
“At the end of the vigil, about
30 people had their lives cut
short as a result of stampede
which we are yet to know the
cause. We learnt, according to
Governor Obi himself that he
was invited to the vigil of the
Holy Ghost Ministry and he has
the fundamental rights to attend
to seek the face of God.
“He attended the vigil with the
National Chairman of APGA,
Chief Victor Umeh, and the
APGA Guber aspirant, Mr.
Willie Obiano and other party
faithful like Okey Udeh, Ifeanyi
Ibezi, Joe Martins Uzodike and
others; including the
government’s security details.
They were in full APGA regalia
showing the world that their
mission went beyond seeking
the face of God. They went in
search of votes for the
forthcoming guber election on
Saturday November 16, 2013,”
he said.
Igbokwe said Obi spoke and
canvassed for votes for his
candidate during the vigil and
even donated N5 million to the
ministry, saying that “we were
told that when the vigil turned
to a political rally, the
congregation began to murmur.
We figured that this behaviour
infuriated the governor’s
security details. One thing led to
the other, and consequently
there was stampede and about
30 innocent people died.”
He said while Obi had declared
three days mourning, Umeh in
his own statement called for
arrest of Senator Chris Ngige for
inciting people of Anambra
State against the governor,
saying this was uncalled for.
“Now the critical questions are:
was Ngige in Uke? Was Ngige in
campaign uniform there? What
happened in Uke on Friday
night? What caused the
stampede? Did Rev Father
Emmanuel invite Gov Obi and
others to come and campaign in
a purely religious event?
Judging from the number of
people there, are we suggesting
Ngige has no supporters
amongst them given that Uke
shares a common border with
Alor, where Ngige comes from?
“Who does not know that Ngige
is a Senator who represents that
Senatorial zone in the Senate?
Why is Chief Victor Umeh
asking for Ngige to be arrested
because APGA got their fingers
burnt by playing dangerous
politics in a church programme?
Who will believe or trust Gov
Obi’s panel of enquiry when it is
obvious that he is the principal
actor in the whole drama? He
cannot be a judge in a matter
that he is involved in. Can Rev
Father Emmanuel Obimma
speak the truth of what
happened against the backdrop
that liars have seized the centre
stage again to deceive the
public? Will His Excellency Gov
Peter Obi have the courage,
politics or no politics, to speak
the truth now that blood has
been shed? Can we get the video
coverage of what happened?”
According to Igbokwe, “we want
to put the whole world on notice
that APGA is getting desperate
in this Anambra elections. The
other day, they went to Onitsha
to force the traders to close their
shops for campaigns. The
people resisted and waved the
brooms to them. As if that was
not enough, they went to town
with a a story that Senator
Chris Ngige slapped a Catholic
priest. It took a Press
Conference by the Priest in
question to debunk their blatant
and pathological lies.
“Both Senator Ngige and Gov
Obi are Catholics. Ngige has
become a thorn in the flesh and
every contestant in Anambra
knows this. The fear of Ngige is
now the beginning of wisdom in
Anambra State. They know that
they cannot match Ngige in
anything, so their plan is to use
propaganda to bring the man to
their miserable level.”
Igbokwe said there was no
doubt that Ngige would win the
coming election in Anambra
State as he had the pedigree to
pilot the state to greater heights.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga

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