One of Governor Governor Soludo’s aides has said that their attention has been drawn to a press statement purporting to emanate from an entity described as the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization” and captioned “EKWUNIFE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION DISOWNS AND CONDEMNS MALICIOUS ARTICLE ASSOCIATED WITH HER”. He said that this purported apology from a seemingly fictitious organization raises more questions than answers.
Mazi Ejimofor Opara PhD, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Soludo on New Media said, “Worse still, the statement was signed by an unknown person who was not the source of Madam Ekwunife’s slur remarks against the Governor and his wife. The publication, authored by one Tony Ezike, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, presents several issues:
1. The publication purporting to be an apology for the defamatory statements personally made against the Governor and his wife by Senator Ekwunife, does not appear to have emanated from the Senator herself, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation.
2. It is a known fact that there is no campaign organization known as the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization” since Senator Ekwunife’s ticket is a joint one with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
3. This suggests that the statement did not truly emanate from Senator Ekwunife and therefore cannot be credited to her. At best, it may be a ploy to prevaricate the fundamental issues posed by the First Lady in her personally signed statement. Wherein she challenged Senator Ekwunife to two key issues. First, that she, as a converted Catholic, agrees to swear an oath before the blessed sacrament that she has not known any other man since her marriage to Chief Larry Ekwunife, and she (Dr. Nonye Soludo) would also do same. The second is for her to accept an all expense paid DNA test of her four children, three of whom were allegedly fathered by men other than her husband. In like manner, Mrs Soludo would present her six children for same test.
4. The defamatory publications were directly made by Senator Ekwunife through audio recordings and statements. Any apology or retraction should logically come from the same source to carry significance. Sadly, the so-called apology never referenced Uche Ekwunife’s initial video and audio but chose to focus on an unsigned article.
5. The purported apology referencing an unknown article with unknown authors, only points to one thing, and that is her complicity directly or indirectly as the source of the article—which contains only one of the many accusations she made against the Governor’s wife—it implies that no genuine apology was intended or tendered.
6. The publication is not considered an apology or retraction by Senator Ekwunife and is believed not to emanate from her. If she intended to apologize, she should present it in a manner that leaves no doubt about its source or reliability.
7. More importantly, slander or libel directly made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or person other than the individual who made them.
8. We consider the purported apology as another unsubstantiated social media gossip/fabrication that is neither verifiable nor credible. It leaves ample room for plausible deniability.
9. We will proceed as if this piece of propaganda never happened, while maintaining the position that a proper and direct retraction of all fabrications against the Governor and his wife by Senator Ekwunife is necessary. Such a retraction should be made through a medium that leaves no doubt about its authenticity. Therefore, a contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of her defamatory statements.
Thank you, and God bless you all.”