Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State and his wife, Dr. Nonye Soludo, have dismissed as fabricated an apology reportedly issued on behalf of Senator Uche Ekwunife concerning allegations of infidelity.
Ekwunife, the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming Anambra election, had earlier accused the governor’s wife of marital infidelity. Reports later circulated of an apology purportedly from the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization.”
In a statement on Wednesday signed by Mazi Ejimofor Opara, Senior Special Assistant on New Media to the governor, the Soludos described the purported apology as misleading and lacking credibility, insisting it did not emanate from the senator herself.
“The publication purporting to be an apology does not appear to have come from Senator Ekwunife, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation,” the statement read.
Opara stressed that any genuine retraction must come directly from the senator through the same channels used to make the allegations. He noted that the unsigned article neither referenced Ekwunife’s initial video and audio remarks nor addressed the substance of the claims.
The governor’s office also recalled that Dr. Nonye Soludo had earlier challenged Ekwunife to swear an oath before the Blessed Sacrament affirming fidelity to her marriage and to subject her children to DNA testing alongside the Soludos’ children, to disprove the allegations.
“Any contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction,” Opara said. “Slander or libel made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or proxy.”
The Soludo administration concluded that it would disregard the purported apology and continue to demand a clear, personal, and unambiguous retraction from Senator Ekwunife.
