From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Francis Nwifuru, has declared his readiness to work with his opponents in the March 2023 governorship election for the development and progress of the state.
He spoke when the people of the state trooped out in their numbers to receive him on his return from Abuja after the Supreme Court affirmed his election as governor.
There were media reports suggesting that Nwifuru said he was not disposed to working with his opponents because they declined entreaties to withdraw their cases and settle out of court.
The state government on Saturday described as false, myopic and ill-intended such media report that the governor reportedly vowed not to accommodate his major challengers, Chief Chukwuma Odii, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Prof. Bernard Odoh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), in his government.
Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor, in a statement in Abakaliki, said the governor was misquoted.
“The Government of Ebonyi State has noted with utter dismay reactions in some quarters emanating from some distorted reports from some sections of the media over Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru’s statement while addressing stakeholders on 14th January, 2024 concerning his ultimate electoral victory at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“It is quite unfortunate that the well-intended and articulate address of the governor was mischievously lifted in part and quoted out of context by such media representatives in the state for some clandestine reasons, best known to them,” Okpor stated.