Senators Abaribe, Akobundu deny involvement in ADC coalition

Spokespersons for Senators representing Abia Central and Abia South Senatorial Districts, Senator Austin Akobundu and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, have said it is not true that their principals are involved in any coalition arrangement in the country nor backing Deacon Iyke Nwoke as Interim Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Recall that during the enlarged meeting of the ADC, held in Umuahia at the weekend, the ADC included the name of the two Abia federal lawmakers as signatories in talks over the progress of the coalition and ADC in Abia State.

Responding in a statement refuting the claim on Tuesday, Aide to the Senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District, Jude Ndukwe, said his principal is not aware of such communiqué and did not append his signature backing Deacon Iyke Nwoke as Interim Chairman or aligning with the coalition.

The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a report circulating in a section of the media to the effect that Senator Austin Akobundu, alongside others, signed a communique purportedly endorsing Deacon Iyke Nwoke as Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Abia State Chapter, and wish to state that the story is not only untrue but also the manipulative machinations of desperate elements to hoodwink and mislead unsuspecting members of the public.

“There is no way Senator Austin Akobundu, a PDP Senator, would have involved himself in the activities of another party to the extent of endorsing a chairman.

“Those who are leveraging the goodwill of Senator Akobundu to gain validation while sowing seeds of confusion in our polity should desist from such acts forthwith.”

While confirming the authenticity of the information endorsing Deacon Iyke Nwoke and their involvement in the coalition, Aide to Enyinnaya Abaribe, Uchenna Awom, simply replied newsmen by saying, “It’s not true”.

During an enlarged meeting of the ADC at the weekend, the ADC, while reading out a communiqué signed by stakeholders of the party including: the Governorship Candidate of the ADC in the 2023 election, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, the names of Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe and Austin Akobundu among others were mentioned as having been in support of the outcome of the meeting.