Libel suit: Group commends Mbah, knocks Enugu opposition for campaign of calumny

A civil society organisation, the Enugu Group for Good Governance (E-3G) has commended the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Peter Mbah, for towing the path of constitutionalism by suing the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ugochukwu Agballah, over alleged libel, saying it would help to restore sanity in the 2023 electioneering in the state.

The group condemned what it termed opposition’s failure to stick to issues, saying the continued attacks on the PDP and Peter Mbah could not earn the opposition candidates any votes, as Enugu people regard them all as PDP members in different vehicles.

In a statement released in Enugu by its National Coordinator, Odinaka Okechukwu, on Thursday, E-3G regretted that the campaigns of calumny were degrading the state’s democracy, while unwittingly narrowing the governorship seat to Dr. Peter Mbah, the only candidate it said had so far articulated and diligently canvassed a viable manifesto to Enugu people.

“We note with serious concern the predilection of Enugu opposition parties for smear campaigns and fixation on personalities rather than articulating and canvassing feasible manifestos to broaden the choices of Enugu electorates. So far, they have not offered the people alternative blueprints to choose from.

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“It is equally instructive that the smear campaigns against Mbah have not only failed fact-checks, but has unwittingly narrowed the governorship seat to him as the only candidate that has presented a well received manifesto to Enugu voters,” the group stated.

Urging the candidates to redirect their energies to issues-based campaigns rather than personalities, the group queried: “Which of the gubernatorial candidates is not an offshoot of the PDP? Is it Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, who served as a Member of the House of Representatives, Special Adviser to Deputy Senate President, Special Assistant to then President Goodluck Jonathan, and a two-term Commissioner in the Ugwuanyi administration and only defected to the Labour Party in June 2022 after losing the governorship ticket?

“Or is it Frank Nweke of APGA, who served as Chief of Staff to Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani; Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Special Duties, and Youth Development; Minister of Information and National Orientation; and Minister of Information and Communication in the PDP administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and was a PDP member until 2022?

“Or Chief Uche Nnaji, the Enugu APC governorship candidate, who is a big time PDP contractor, was appointed into several federal Boards, and served as Special Assistant to Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as PDP’s National Chairman just a few years ago?

“Or the defendant in the libel suit, Ugochukwu Agballah, who was both a Commissioner under Chimaroke Nnamani government, and a delegate to the PDP National Convention/ presidential Primary for the 2019 general election?

“Therefore, only the manifesto, credibility, and track record of individual candidates will make a difference to the electorate”.