The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, was “never involved in any sod turning ceremony for the second River Niger Bridge during the first tenure of President Obasanjo”.

The First Class Monarch clears the air yesterday, Tuesday, January 3, 2023, while reacting to recent claims by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity), Mallam Garba Shehu, while accusing former President Olusegun Obasanjo of hypocrisy over the construction of the Second Niger Bridge.

Shehu, while reacting to Obasanjo’s New Year letter to Nigerian youths in which he scored the Buhari administration low, had claimed that when Obasanjo sought re-election for his second term in office, he returned to the site of the Second Niger Bridge to turn the sod for the second time. Shehu claimed that when the Obi of Onitsha reminded Obasanjo that he had done this in the past, the then President told the Obi in the presence of Onitsha chiefs that he was a liar.

However, Igwe Achebe in a statement issued yesterday by his Chief of Staff, Chinyelugo Anionwu, said that the Obi was never involved in any sod turning ceremony for the Second Niger Bridge during Obasanjo’s first tenure as President and, therefore, could not have engaged in any altercation with the then President.

The statement reads: “His Majesty, Nnaemeka Achebe, CFR, mni, Obi of Onitsha, by his position as traditional and natural ruler, should normally not engage publicly in high level discourse on affairs of State between two of our highly respected national leaders, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR.

“However, the Palace deems it absolutely necessary to ensure that public statements relating to our monarch are factually correct. Accordingly, the Palace would like to state categorically that His Majesty was never involved in any sod turning ceremony for the second River Niger Bridge during the first tenure of President Obasanjo as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and, therefore, could not have engaged in any altercation with the then President as stated in the above press release.

“The only involvement of His Majesty with President Obasanjo regarding the Second River Niger Bridge was at the very tail end of his second term as President during a low-keyed flag-off of the project when His Majesty prayed that the succeeding administration would construct the bridge expeditiously.

Onitsha people will continue to express their utmost gratitude to President Buhari and his Government for successfully constructing the magnificent bridge.”

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