SUN NEWS
The Governor-Elect of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti has denied inviting former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon to Abia for a prayer programme that will kick-start his inauguration as governor on May 29.
This is even as Otti has announced the appointment of some prominent Abians as members of the Inauguration Committee for his swearing-in on May 29.
Those against Gowon’s coming to Abia cited the 1966 coup, in which the first military head of state, General Thomas Aguiyi Ironsi was killed and the put the blame on the door steps of the former.
In a release by his media adviser, Ferdinand Ekeoma, Otti accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state of being behind the rumour making the rounds that he invited Gowon to Abia.
The statement said the aim of the PDP government in Abia in propagating the rumour was to incite hate, violence, and terrorism against Otti and the citizens of Abia, as payback for their defeat at the polls.
The release read in part, “The latest action by the PDP in Abia State to beguile the people and incite hate is to allege that Dr. Otti had invited a former Military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd.), to come and pray at his inauguration as Governor.
“The PDP further garnished is deliberate falsehood, evoking the ugly memories of the military coups of the past and the murder of Nigeria’s first military Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi, leading to the devastating Nigerian Civil War where millions of Igbos were killed…
