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The Imo State government, on Tuesday, refuted a report alleging that a Supreme Court judge apologized for the ruling on the Imo Governorship five years ago.
The report, labeled as “fake news” by the state, was criticized as both “irresponsible and unreasonable.”
Declan Emelumba, the Commissioner for Information, Public Orientation, and Strategy, addressed journalists in Owerri, condemning the false information circulating on social media.
In his statement, he remarked, “Imo State government has dismissed as puerile, ludicrous, and irresponsible the recent attempt by enemies of the State to rubbish the profile of Governor Hope Uzodimma through fake news.
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“The fake news being circulated in the social media purporting a Supreme Court judge to have apologised to Imo people over the ruling five years ago was one in a series of failed attempts to rubbish the reputation of Uzodimma.”
Emelumba attributed the spread of this misinformation to what he called “The purveyors of fake news,” whom he described as persistent in their unsuccessful efforts to tarnish the governor’s image.
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He asserted, “They appear not to be tired even when they have failed woefully and repeatedly in their satanic mission to destroy the governor politically. We shall continue to counter them lest they get away with these tissues of lies and propaganda aimed at tarnishing the image of the governor, no matter how incredible and ridiculous.”
He further challenged the credibility of the report, saying, “In their haste to impersonate the so-called Supreme Court justice who purportedly apologised, blaming her action on eye infection, no name was given and the place and event where she made the statement were not also given.”
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He also emphasized that “those who continue to dwell on the Supreme Court judgment have refused to accept defeat even when Uzodimma roundly trounced them in last year’s governorship election.”
Emelumba highlighted that the opposition has remained in denial, ignoring the fact that after the Supreme Court’s ruling, the PDP sought a review only to face a dismissal with significant costs from the Justices.
“Because the opposition continues to live in denial, it has never occurred to them that after the Supreme Court judgment, PDP sought a review where the learned Justices threw the books at them with a heavy cost. They also had another opportunity to test their popularity in another election, yet Uzodimma floored them in all the 27 local government areas of the State. Is it not time for them to go hide their faces in shame?” he stated.
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The Commissioner also criticized social media for enabling the opposition to spread baseless claims, particularly the recent one that seeks to undermine the reputation of a Supreme Court judge.
He noted, “There are basic rules in the journalism profession that were totally violated by those who published that trash. Who said what, when, where, at what occasion, and how were not answered because it was fake news. We are responding for the simple reason that some gullible members of society might believe it to be true.”
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Emelumba affirmed that, “To the best of knowledge of the government, no judge who participated in the ruling, which restored Uzodimma’s mandate, has ever disowned it, talk less of blaming eye infection for it.”
He concluded by attributing the periodic circulation of false news against Governor Uzodimma to those “afraid of his national political visibility, which has dwarfed their local standing.”
