The Abia State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC has called on Hon. Nnenna Ukeje, former House of Representatives member not to associate the party with the alleged burning of her father’s house in Alayi, Bende local government area of the state, alleging that it is a ploy by the ruling PDP in the state to decimate the APC.
State Secretary of the party, Mr. Perfect Okorie while speaking with ABN TV on Sunday said the party sympathizes with Hon. Ukeje if indeed anything happened to the house being paraded as razed down, but insisted that no APC member is involved in her predicament as being alleged.
Mr. Okorie said the campaign is a desperate efforts to pitch the people against APC in Bende where he claimed the party is most popular in Abia, insisting that such will be resisted.
He challenged Hon. Ukeje and the PDP to provide evidence that members of the APC were seen in the vicinity of the burnt house before and after the incident. He warned them to desist from the harassment and indiscriminate arrest of APC members in the local Government.
“If you look at the video clip being paraded on the social media, the houses in the said premises are still standing and nothing happened to them.
“The upholstery is still intact, including the curtains. This begins to raise serious doubt on the veracity or otherwise of the claim.
“Yes the person alleging has shown clip of two vehicles burnt but the questions we will continue to ask is, are there no security men in the compound?
“If there are, have they been questioned on who did what as at when that purported incident occurred and where they gained entry from.
“These are serious questions that should be answered. Who was available when the incident happened? Did they see any APC member before or after?
“They should not be making spurious allegations against APC. We are peace-loving party. We don’t engage in violence. In 2019 APC captured Bende Federal Constituency peacefully without bloodshed.
“We did it because the people believe in our party and our candidate, Hon. Benjamin Kalu. He is there doing his job peacefully and delivering the dividends of democracy to his constituents.
“We are saying he should not be disturbed. His name should not in any way be associated with such evil claim” stating that, there is no nexus between Hon. Benjamin Kalu a sitting member of the House of Representatives and Hon Nnenna a former member of the House who has not declared any interest in running for an election. If there is any collision, it should be between her and her party members and certainly not with APC not Benjamin Kalu who is focused on ensuring that democracy dividend reaches all nooks and crannies in Bende,” the party warned.
Mr. Okorie took a swipe at the PDP for holding power in Bende Federal Constituency for 12 years without a single project to show for it, warning the party to desist from smear campaign against Hon. Benjamin Kalu and APC. He therefore called for the immediate release of all APC members arrested on the instigation Hon. Nnenna Ukeje and the PDP in Bende. While calling on the Law enforcement agencies to meticulously investigate the incident so as to unravel to truth behind same.
