Lawmaker Denies Threatening Tribunal Witnesses
A lawmaker representing Port Harcourt Constituency 2 in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr. Tonye Adoki, has dismissed claims that he was threatening witnesses expected to testify against his election and that of the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Adoki, who spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Thursday, accused the All Progressives Congress of trying to malign his person with such an allegation, describing it as false and a mere propaganda by an opposition party.
Explaining that he remains a man of peace, Adoki expressed surprise that the APC in the state could attempt to tarnish his image through the social media, adding that at no time did he plan to attack or threaten to attack members of the opposition party or their witnesses.
Adoki expressed worry that he was being addressed on social media as the hatchet man of the state governor and falsely tagged him an ex-militant.
“It is most unfortunate that they have commenced a new line of falsehood by circulating via social media platforms, including the use of pseudo names and blogs to defame Governor Wike and my person wherein they address me as the ‘hatchet man for Governor Wike’ with a mission to go after their supposed witnesses.
“I wish to deny in its entirety every such allegation and state further that APC is put to the strictest proof of their deceitful stock in trade as contained in their allegations against me.
“Thus, neither Governor Nyesom Wike nor I have ever been involved in any such evil as APC has lied against us. In their reports, they have falsely referred to me as an ex-militant all in a bid to portray me in a bad light,” the lawmaker said.
He, however, urged the APC in the state to look inward, adding that they may be guilty of the allegations levelled against him.
According to him, “It is no longer news that APC Rivers cannot be taken seriously on issues by anyone in view of its penchant for propaganda and violence just as it demonstrated during the last general elections resulting in its loss.
“They (APC) seek to perpetrate mayhem again upon their own and heap it wrongly on Governor Nyesom Wike and his supporters, including myself during this period as an alternative to their imminent loss at the ongoing Elections Petitions Tribunal knowing that they have no case at all.”
Reacting, the State Deputy Chairman of the APC, Prince Peter Odike, said the party would not go back on its position that some members of the current House of Assembly were former militants.
Odike, who spoke through his Media Assistant, Mr. Paul Osiagwu, however, maintained that the APC never made any allegation against Adoki.
He said, “The issue is that we witnessed what happened during the election; even the international observers agreed that there was no election in the state. However, there is no truth in the claim that the APC made allegations against Adoki, the lawmaker.
“What they are doing now is that they are running helter-skelter. Go and do a check on the present members in the House of Assembly and you will see that some of them are former militants. We stand by what we have said.”
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