I never promised Buhari land for cattle colony – Uche Ogah  * Says  jittery opponents behind the propaganda 

I never promised Buhari land for cattle colony – Uche Ogah

* Says  jittery opponents behind the propaganda

* Denies anti – IPOB remarks

By Steve Oko

The governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress in Abia State, Dr. Uche Ogah, has distanced himself from a letter he purportedly wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari promising to establish cattle colony in Abia if elected.

According to the purported letter trending in some social media platforms, Ogah allegedly also promised to crush the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB,  and build a befitting mosque for Muslims at the Livestock market Lokpanta.

The report had claimed Ogah made the promises in his congratulatory letter to Buhari after his victory at the presidential poll.

But the oil magnet dismissed the purported letter as a blatant lie and cheap propaganda by his opponents to discredit him among his teeming supporters.

Ogah said those jittery over his swelling popularity and the crushing defeat awaiting them at the forthcoming governorship poll were behind the propaganda to cause disaffection among his supporters.

He challenged those behind the purported leaked letter to publish a photocopy of the said letter in their possession for believability of their “poor script “.

Ogah who spoke through his Media Adviser,  Great Imo Jonathan,  denied ever making the promises credited  to him in the said letter, and urged members of the public to ignore the report.

On IPOB, Ogah said :”we know those under who’s leadership IPOB members were massacred in Aba and we all can point to those who officially invited the military into the situation due to their lack of tact in handling such issues.”

” IPOB members are our children, they are not strangers. If the remote causes of their agitation is solved and they are carried along in how we govern our state you don’t need to put much effort to bring them to an understanding.

“But where a group of people have hijacked the treasury of Abia State and have continued to appropriate our common patrimony to themselves, the rest of the people are bound to agitate; IPOB is simply a symbol of that agitation, although it has taken a wider perspective.”

Below is a full text of the press release :

“CATTLE COLONY PROPAGANDA AGAINST

UCHE OGAH IS DRIVEN BY ENVIOUS AND  CLASSLESS OPPONENTS

“First, it is important to establish that a mainstream media or a respectable online medium cannot get involved in such a despicable act of publishing a lie. Every right thinking person knows that an unknown blogger cannot be taken seriously, especially in a period where propaganda is meat for the failing People’s Democratic Party and some other opponents of Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah in Abia State?

“We are only responding to this poorly orchestrated propaganda because we need our people to understand that the purveyors of these tissues of lies are lacking in issues based campaign and are determined to drag the people to their despicable gutter level in order to establish a comfortable zone to operate. They simply have no ideas on how to move Abia forward and they are envious of Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah because through his manifesto he has set an agenda far beyond their comprehension.

“Politics as Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah has always maintained, is a contest of ideas. It’s about giving our people the opportunity to choose between contending ideas and individuals who has what it takes to help us achieve our collective dream as a people. But when you have a crop of people who have nothing to offer, they make consistent effort to draw attention away from real issues to the mundane.

“In an election period like this, what the people are expecting to hear from candidates and their supporters is what they intend to do about failed road infrastructure in Abia State, after years of poor performance by those currently holding power. The good people of Abia were expecting to read intelligent propositions on how to ensure that workers salaries are paid, pensioners are taken care of, Aba is built into a world class economic center, our youths are gainfully employed, our women are empowered, world class hospitals are established, infant and maternal mortality rates are drastically reduced, enabling business environment is created, quality learning environment and world class teaching is made a priority; amongst other issues that are relevant to our development as a state.

“But we are not surprised that, that is not the focus of our opponents. They are bereft of ideas and afraid to play with us in the arena of issues where we have consistently maintained focus. They have over the years elevated propaganda to their height of ignorance and now they can hardly understand decency. This is what has accounted for the poor quality leadership outcome we have seen amongst some of our opponents and they are determined to drag the entire Abia there because they have nothing to offer.

“But to help us understand the issue, it is important to mention that a serious media platform when it claimed to have intercepted a letter of such relevance should have published a scanned copy as we do see serious media platforms like Premium Times do. Because that is the way to establish evidence in journalism. No serious minded publisher will claim to have intercepted a document from the Presidency without showing it to the world. Anything less is cheap propaganda and we will not dignify the author and his sponsors with a mention. They  are simply debased and unfit to drive the debate for the 9th of March election.

“Looking at the three things they claimed were contained in the purported letter and the use of language, you can see that they are even poor at executing their own propaganda. The language used in their so called imaginary letter does not reflect Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah’s use of language. Such can only come from pedestrian characters like the “kota sign” crooners who simply think that governance is in the realm of fraud.

“1. We know those under who’s leadership IPOB members were massacred in Aba and we all can point to those who officially invited the military into the situation due to their lack of tact in handling such issues. Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah has a better understanding of how to handle such issues and will not require the Presidency to do so. IPOB is a reflection of something deeper than the gathering of young Igbo men and women, it is a response of long neglected youths who’s future was stolen by few individuals and their cries for remedy were neglected. It is a an indictment on those who have governed Abia for some years now. And It is a sign of our collective failure as a people to create a brighter rewarding future for our youths and to give them hope in the means of our dwindling economic fortunes.

“For anybody who is a governor to wait for the presidency to get involved in resolving such an issue shows that he lacks capacity to administer his people. IPOB members are our children, they are not strangers. If the remote causes of their agitation is solved and they are carried along in how we govern our state you don’t need to put much effort to bring them to an understanding. But where a group of people have hijacked the treasury of Abia State and have continued to appropriate our common patrimony to themselves, the rest of the people are bound to agitate; IPOB is simply a symbol of that agitation, although it has taken a wider perspective.

“Hence, it is a cheap propaganda to suggest that Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson is promising anybody anything in that regard. The Nigerian army is a part of our everyday lives and their constitutional role is understood, except by those who lack the understanding of Expected Role Performances (ERP) of institutions of government.

“2. Anybody talking about anyone promising to build Mosque for anybody is simply ignorant and Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson is not ignorant. In Nigeria there is freedom of worship and that must always be respected. In Abia state there are Muslims as they are in every other part of the country. We have lived harmoniously with Muslims in Abia state and they have never required anybody to build a place of worship for them to practice their religion. Likewise we are Christians and we have lived harmoniously with other people in other states and we have built our places of worship and it is our fundamental rights as Nigerians. Those who are trying to gain political currency from such an issue are absolutely poor in their thinking.

“3. Again we can see the ignorance of the publisher and his sponsors exposed. To start with, cattle rearing is a business and not the exclusive preserve of anybody. Our own M. I. Okpera established Obudu Cattle Ranch in the late 50s. If anybody is making that an issue in the year 2019, it shows that he lack sense. We will advise the author of this poor script to please avail himself a copy of Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah’s manifesto and take a look at his inspiring program on agriculture, including his plan to develop endless orchards that will run through 10 local government areas in Abia state and will help create 35,000 new jobs.

“We want to state clearly that the purported letter is a figment of author’s imagination and a  simple distraction from the real issues in focus. We are waiting for the author to show the world a scanned copy of the so called letter. Until then, it is important for opponents of Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah to know that he is not in their class, he is focused on issues and will expect them to challenge him on issues and not cheap propaganda. Governance is a serious business and anybody that intends to get into it must be serious minded and not given to triviality.

“Abia Rejoice

“Great Imo Jonathan

Special Adviser To  Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah On Media

05/03/2019″