Uzodinma said PDP decided to blackmail him because it realized it might lose Saturday’s governorship election
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma has refuted claims that he stopped President Bola Tinubu from releasing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).Nnamdi Kanu,
He made this known via a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Public Communications, Collins Ughalaa.
News making the rounds had claimed that Tinubu said Uzodinma stopped the release of the IPOB leader during a meeting with Igbo businessmen in Abuja on Monday.
Reacting to the reports, Uzodinma in the statement accused the major opposition party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of being the one behind the falsehood.
The governor went on to say, the party decided to blackmail him, because it suddenly realized that it might lose Saturday’s governorship election.
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He maintained that the story of him preventing Tinubu from facilitating Kanu’s release is entirely false.
The statement reads in part: “We know that the disgruntled opposition party can do anything, including supporting or sponsoring terror in the state, but we thought the party still had some shame. However, the recent desperation to blackmail Governor Hope Uzodinma with the fake story that the governor is blocking the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu shows that the party is capable of doing any evil without scruples.
“In a fake story titled: ‘Uzodinma blocking the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu – Tinubu,’ and being circulated by the PDP and their agents, the party falsely accused the governor of blocking the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“The story is false in its entirety. Not only did President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not make the statement they falsely credited to him, the governor never made any move to block Kanu’s release, neither did he reach out to the President not to release Kanu. There is no reason for such a move whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, the presidency had earlier denied such reports, stressing that Tinubu never made such a remark.
