My attention has been drawn to an advertorial in the Vanguard of Monday, 29th September, 2014. The advert which was purportedly signed by me contained congratulatory message in honour of Senator Nkechi Nwaogu who along with other eminent sons and daughters of Abia State received the National Honours Award.
Even though I am quite happy and proud that one of our own got a National Award, let me quickly seize this opportunity to clarify that the said advert did not emanate from me and thus it is not fair to ascribe it to me as I am not in the habit of advertising congratulatory messages in the newspapers.
Ordinarily I would have waved off the issue as inconsequential because throughout my political career spanning over three decades I have never been known as a spoiler or one who stands in between the ambition of any one aspirant. My concern has always been to serve my people in whatever capacity to the best of my ability.
For the avoidance of doubt, what I did was to send an sms to all awardees including my governor, Chief Theodore Orji, congratulating them on the award.
As an elder statesman in the state, I will not condescend so low as to show my political preferences on the pages of newspapers but can only do so on the ballot box. Who has ever heard me talk about the aspiration of any politician from my state on the pages of newspapers? As a democrat, I do not have the power or the propensity to stop anybody from nursing an ambition to vie for any elective position in the State or elsewhere for such power lies with the electorate.
I want to believe that this is the handwork of dirty tricksters who are out to drag my name in the mud. Yes political jobbers can go and say Adighije said this or is interested in this politician or that politician. That is how they feed and earn their pay. They thrive on collecting money from gullible politicians when they set one against the other thus causing disaffection and overheating the polity. All these outright falsehoods and fabrications about my person are mere figments in the imagination of the fabricators as I am not in a position of influence or affluence to anoint anybody to any position as that power belongs to God Almighty.
Senator Chris Adighije,
10 Dennis Osadebe Street,
Apo Legislative Quarters,
Abuja
