Politics
FOLLOWING a rave of false report that Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State hosted a lavish birthday party amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a legislator has debunked the report.
Mr Chima Obieze, representing Eziagu constituency in Enugu State House of Assembly, stated on Friday that that there was no party neither was there a plan by the governor to host a group event.
In a statement released in Enugu by Obieze, he noted that a video of him congratulating the governor on his birthday in the social media was not properly situated.
“My attention has been drawn to a video making rounds where people are misconstruing a video recorded and shared by me to wish the governor of Enugu State a happy birthday.
“The video was recorded after an emergency meeting of all political office holders in Enugu on how to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Obieze clarified that the gathering was a meeting of the state committee charged with finding solutions to the health crisis and the meeting coincided with the birthday of the governor.
Speaking further the lawmaker noted that a cake was brought to the governor as a surprise gift just immediately after the meeting, which was chaired by the governor himself.
He urged the general public to disregard the rumours as the governor was focused on finding ways to prevent corona virus from spreading to Enugu state.
“The meeting was on a day that happened to be the governor’s birthday. So while the meeting was on, a well-wisher delivered a beautiful Lion-designed cake to the governor.
“The governor almost rejected the cake on the grounds that he wanted no celebrations but we at the meeting prevailed on him to accept the cake.”
Obieze noted that after the meeting, just before the meeting dispersed, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu was asked by the State PDP chairman to moderate the cutting of the cake, which he did.
“It is surprising to see people peddling lies and inputting falsehood into what happened that day.
“For those who watched the video, it is simple enough to see for a fact that there was no party by the governor.
“There were no drinks, no food, no music nor entertainment. Nothing of such,” he pointed out.
Obieze warned that the people behind this blackmail simply wanted to tarnish the image of a man who was giving his best to protect the lives, health and welfare of our people.
“I write this because I was part of the meeting and was present to see things for myself that the governor celebrated no birthday.
“He was busy that day making calls to ensure some medical stuff the state had ordered for COVID-19 got to us on time,” he noted.
NAN
– March 27, 2020 @ 15:27 GMT
Tags: Gov. Ugwuanyi did not host birthday party — Assemblyman
