THE government of Imo state has disclaimed the purported renaming of Imo State University after the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari describing the allegation as fake, misleading and act of cowardice of the leading opposition in the country, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the Governor, Oguwike Nwachuku on Monday in Owerri which he titled “PDP, Fake News and Gutter Politics on Abba Kyari”, the CPS whose name was used to issue the fake press statement of the purported renaming of the state’s institution as a way of immortalizing the late CoS described the action as senseless, irresponsible blackmail and criminal in nature.
The blackmail includes a statement credited to the CPS stating that Governor Uzodimma had in a condolence letter revealed that the late Chief of Staff to the President made him governor of Imo State.
Nwachuku called upon the general public to ignore such “childish and irresponsible acts” and advised the reading public to not only take fake news seriously but to make conscious efforts to identify the promoters and ensure they join others who stand against fake news globally to make their trade unattractive. The statement reads;
“The attention of the Office of the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the Governor has been drawn to a fake news circulating on the social media, purporting that Governor
Hope Uzodimma wants to rename Imo State University, Owerri, after the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari.
“The author(s) of the fake news had not only credited to the governor what he could not have said, but they criminally wrote the name of his Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser,
Mr. Oguwike Nwachuku as the one who signed the purported statement.
“Since last weekend that Kyari passed on, the same persons have been issuing press statements, forging the logo of government and the name of Mr. Nwachuku with the intent to deceive Imolites in particular and the public in general into believing their propaganda and fake news to be real.
“Ordinarily, the blackmail by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through the two fake statements they credited to the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the Governor should have been ignored, knowing that no right thinking person will believe them.
“In one of such fake statements they issued and also circulated on social media, they mischievously credited Governor Uzodimma to have said he would immortalise Kyari for “making him Governor.”
“Such a senseless and irresponsible blackmail! Not done, the PDP went further to credit yet another fallacy to the CPS/Media Adviser that Governor Uzodimma will rename Imo State University after the late Kyari.
“It was their desperation to deepen the propaganda and criminal intents that drove them to the latest fake news of purported renaming of Imo State University after Kyari, something that only exists in the imagination of their tiny brain’s imagination.
“These heartless and infantile fabrications by the PDP do not ordinarily deserve the dignity of a refutal by the respected Office of the CPS/Media Adviser.
“But the circumstances are not ordinary because it is about playing politics with the dead. It is sad to admit that the PDP has lost every sense of decency and fallen to the beastly level of denigrating the memory of the dead.
“One is not shocked, therefore, to notice that even in their desperation, the PDP could go so low to commit the sacrilege of dragging the name of a late distinguished statesman into gutter politics. This act of madness is both ridiculous and reckless beyond our imagination.
“We are not surprised at the level the propagandists of these fake news and their surrogates have descended, but concerned about how some people will elect to deliberately deceive the public with information they know is outright false and misleading.
“For the avoidance of doubt, let it be known that the two statements in reference were not issued by the office of the CPS/Media Adviser. They were fabricated and issued by the PDP and wickedly credited them to his office. We know exactly the person behind this and appropriate legal steps have been initiated to bring him to book.
“No doubt, we would have loved to ignore these agents of distraction and fake news, but for the fact that we owe Imo people and the public the right to factual information on the activities of a responsible government like ours.
That is why we enjoin the public, including Imolites, to ignore all the fake news being churned out around the death of Kyari by criminally-minded PDP agents and to also bear in mind that their appetite for wrong causes may not be easy to quench in one fell swoop”, Nwachuku stated.