Our attention has been drawn to the media campaign by one Mr. F. N Nwaosu, an aspirant in the last year gubernatorial primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, alleging that he is being “ attacked and intimidated” into withdrawing the suit he instituted against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
Nwaosu affirmed, in the orchestrated media campaign, that he remains “ resolute and undaunted in spite of official and clannish attempts to appease him for an out-of-court settlement of the suit”
For the avoidance of doubt, I want to remind Nwaosu that the Governor of Abia State is not standing any trail for forgery of any sort. As a lawyer, he must know that it is unprofessional for him to be referring to a civil suit as if it is a criminal case.
His allegation is spurious because it amounts to the height of irresponsibility for him to be canvassing that a government functionary who pays his taxes through the pay-as-you-earn system forged his tax certificate.
Again, as a lawyer, if he has any modicum of respect for the ethics of his profession, he cannot jump to the press with the facts that are already before the court.
It is only in this country that somebody who came 5th in a party primary election with only five votes would be asking the court to declare him the winner of the election.
The Governor’s team of lawyers are defending the suit and he should go back to court and prove his allegation and not to resort to the pages of newspapers for a campaign of blackmail that can never solve his problem. I put it to him that this blackmail tactics will not help him at all.
Let me again remind Nwaosu that he is yet, or has deliberately refused to file a defense for the N500 million damages libel suit which Governor Ikpeazu instituted against him. He should go and defend himself and stop playing to the gallery.
It is now obvious that he has now embarked on a diversionary tactics to take people’s minds away from the main issues. He is a cheap attention-seeker who is indirectly begging to be given a soft landing. He is seeking for an escape route to save his face. Nobody is urging Nwaosu to surrender. Nobody is asking him to withdraw his case. And nobody will ever persuade him to capitulate. We believe in rule of law and Nwaosu should allow the courts to run their course.
He is not an issue in Obingwa not to talk of the state. Nobody will even accord him a nuisance value. Let me also inform him that Governor Okezie is not the type anyone can blackmail into compromise.
Signed:
Godwin Adindu,
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
