The Orlu Political Action Committee (OPAC) has accused the aides of Governor Hope Uzodinma of being behind the fake voice recording purported to be that of former governor of the state, Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, with the sole motive to blackmail and tarnish his hard image.

The group also said that the purported ‘ Orlu Political Consultative Assembly led by the state commissioner for Transport, Chief Rex Anunobi, is fake and fraudulent as it does not exist.

They also called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Chief Rex Anunobi and members of his group for brazen Blackmail and inflammatory statements.

Chief Rex Anunobi, National President of Orlu Political Consultative Assembly had at a press conference on Monday called for the arrest and prosecution of Chief Emeka Ihedioha for allegedly vowing to make the state ungovernable in voice recording purported to be his at the weekend.

But in a swift reaction, the leadership of a rival group, the Orlu Political Action Committee (OPAC), in a press statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the group, Barr Nnamdi Maduka, and made available to Journalists Tuesday evening, accused the aides of Governor Hope Uzodinma of concocting the fake voice recording of former governor Emeka Ihedioha.

The statement which read in part said: “In the last two weeks, both social and conventional media spaces have been awash with fake letters ascribed to Rt Hon Ihedioha, which indeed were fabricated, distributed and syndicated by well-known appointees and agents of Senator Uzodinma, with the intention of pitting the former governor against the Igbo people. When they failed in that gambit, they went in search of other options.

Again, some agents of the same Government congregated under a very bizarre nomenclature to demand the arrest of the Rt Hon Ihedioha over a completely baseless and absurd allegation of misappropriation of N19.63 billion. But the discerning citizens of Imo State could not fall for such cheap propaganda, hence the urgency for the desperate hatchet men of the failed Uzodinma administration to cook up something new.

The statement further read: “The latest, therefore, in their orgy of fakery, forgery and charlatanism was the cloning of the voice of the Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, so as to suggest that the former Governor made statements on the phone about the security situation in the state. Immediately after the cloned voice recording was released to the public, a non-existent group of imposters called OPOCA, which arrowhead has been unmasked to be one Mr Rex Anunobi, a serving Commissioner in Senator Uzodinma’s Government, was let loose to call for the arrest of the former Governor, Rt Hon Ihedioha.

“OPAC recalls that, some six weeks ago, Senator Uzodinma had mobilized his appointees, proxies and political thugs to stage a demonstration in Owerri and demand the arrest of Rt Hon Ihedioha. It must be noted that the cloning of Ihedioha’s voice was an afterthought which was contrived only to create the pretext that would justify an arrest and possible elimination being plotted a long time ago.

“For us in OPAC, by aiding and abetting such mind-boggling criminality, even to the extent of forging the letterhead and signature of the former Governor, and cloning his voice too, Senator Uzodinma has crossed the red lines, and we cannot remain silent about any longer.”

“OPAC, therefore, calls on the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), to move in now without any further delay to arrest and prosecute Mr Rex Anunobi, who has been identified as the person behind the fake letters, cloned voice recording and fake groups criminally heating up the state.

“To set the records straight, there used to be a group known as OPOCA, which became very notorious in Orlu not just for ripping off political office seekers and ambushing any government in power for patronage, but also for carrying coffins and publicly conducting mock funeral ceremonies against prominent Orlu indigenes who refused part with some cold cash. OPOCA was another name for fraud in Orlu. But the group has since gone into extinction, and now the identity is appropriated by Senator Uzodinma to spread falsehoods against innocent citizens.

The group added: “We are genuinely worried that Senator Uzodinma, in speaking through OPOCA, tends to create the wrong impression that the views of the non-existent group reflect those of the Orlu people. As the apex political group in Orlu, we dissociate ourselves and indeed the Orlu people from Senator Uzodinma’s blackmail, propaganda and campaign of hate against Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha.

It borders on gross abuse of office that Senator Uzodinma would parade his Commissioner, Rex Anunobi, as the face of a fraudulent and extinct group and would use the same to attack innocent citizens and create anarchy in Imo State. Senator Uzodinma is the aggressor, and he should be held responsible for any breakdown of law and order in Imo State.

OPAC wishes to remind Imo people that this same Rex Anunobi was arrested in October 2021 even as a serving Commissioner and was secretly arraigned at Magistrate Court 2 at Shell Camp in Owerri by the Government of Senator Uzodinma on very serious allegations of extortion and diversion of public funds.

We demand that Senator Uzodinma should explain to Ndimo who nocturnally seized the court papers and erased Anunobi’s name from among the accused persons. He should also let Imo people know the deal they struck which yielded in Anunobi’s sudden release. OPAC alerts Imo people that part of the deal reached was that Anunobi must make himself available to be used for levying attacks on Senator Uzodinma’s perceived political foes. And forging Ihedioha’s letterhead, cloning his voice and attacking his personality is obviously part of the sleazy assignments which Anunobi must do to remain a free man.” (Daily Sun)

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