• Demands apology through same medium used for defamatory statement

By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, and his wife, Dr. Nonye Soludo, have dismissed the apology credited to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy Governorship Candidate, Senator Uche Ekwunife, as lacking in credibility, saying that the apology did not emanate from her.

He described the apology as “another unsubstantiated social media gossip, saying that the Soludo administration would proceed as though the document never existed, while still demanding a clear and unambiguous retraction from Senator Ekwunife herself.

This was contained in a statement by Soludo’s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Mazi Ejimofor Opara, on Wednesday.

News Express reports that Ekwunife allegedly made defamatory remarks against Governor Soludo and his wife, which led to the First Lady issuing a 72-hour ultimatum to Ekwunife to tender apology or be ready to be dragged to court.

The statement titled “Sen. Ekwunife’s Purported Apology: Another Fabrication Fit for the Waste Bin,” argued that the unsigned press release said to have emanated from the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization,” was suspicious, misleading and inadequate.

“There is no such campaign body since Ekwunife’s ticket is a joint one with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra.

“The publication purporting to be an apology for the defamatory statements made against the Governor and his wife personally by Senator Ekwunife does not appear to have emanated from the Senator herself, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation."

While insisting that any retraction or apology must come directly from Senator Ekwunife, using the same means through which the offensive remarks were made, he added:

“The so-called apology never referenced Madam Ekwunife’s initial video and audio but instead focused on an unsigned article. This only points to her complicity, directly or indirectly, as the source of the article. It implies that no genuine apology was intended or tendered,” Opara stated.

The statement recalled that the First Lady, Dr. Nonye Soludo, had earlier challenged Senator Ekwunife to clear herself on two issues: first, to swear an oath before the Blessed Sacrament affirming fidelity to her marriage; and second, to subject her children to a DNA test, alongside the Soludos’ own children, to disprove infidelity allegations.

“Any contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of her defamatory statements,” Opara emphasized, adding: “Slander or libel directly made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or proxy.”