By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has denied imposing his cousin, Barrister Emeka Okafor, as running mate to Senator Andy Uba, the disputed All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the November 6, 2021 election in Anambra State.

Reacting to the news that he (Ngige) was the one that nominated Okafor as an appeasement for his disagreement with Uba on the primary election process that threw him up, the Minister said there was no iota of truth to the claims.

He said that though Okafor is his cousin, he is not a card-carrying member of APC but a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ngige, who reacted to the news on Saturday through a press release signed by the Publicity Secretary of APC in the state, Mr Okelo Madukife, said: “We have intercepted from multiple angles in and out of the social media, a disparaging piece of propaganda to the effect that Sen. Chris Ngige, Anambra State APC Leader has nominated a Deputy Governorship candidate for our dynamic chapter for the November 06, 2021 governorship elections. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

“Whereas, Sen. Chris Ngige who serves as Minister of Labour & Employment, cannot deny that Emeka Okafor of Ward 2, Nnobi in Idemili South LG is his cousin, he is in a position to confirm that this cousin of his is not a member of APC, but a registered and card-carrying member of PDP till date, whose name is not in APC register, except as may be forged.

“That being the case, Sen. Ngige, true to character, will not go out of his way to nominate a PDP member as Deputy Governorship candidate for APC, simply because he is a cousin and has neither done so, nor been consulted to do so.

“Party members and the general public are advised to clean up this piece of poisonous information from their minds, where such pollution exists, as it is intended to water down Sen. Ngige’s known stand on the APC Direct Primaries that would have taken place on June 26,2021.

“Once again, it is important that all information being peddled at this time should be cross-checked for veracity.”

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