Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State and his wife, Dr. Nonye Soludo, have described as “another fabrication” a widely circulated apology allegedly credited to Senator Uche Ekwunife over defamatory remarks about the First Lady.

 

UGAMA TV had earlier reported that Senator Ekwunife, the All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy governorship candidate in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, accused Dr. Soludo of infidelity.

 

In a strongly worded statement issued Wednesday by the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Mazi Ejimofor Opara, the Soludo family said the purported apology neither came from Ekwunife nor carried any credibility.

 

The statement, titled “Sen. Ekwunife’s Purported Apology: Another Fabrication Fit for the Waste Bin,” argued that the unsigned note, allegedly from an “Ekwunife Campaign Organization,” was both misleading and suspicious.

 

“The publication purporting to be an apology for the defamatory statements made against the Governor and his wife personally by Senator Ekwunife does not appear to have emanated from the Senator herself, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation,” Opara stated.

 

He added that any genuine retraction or apology must come directly from Senator Ekwunife, through the same channels where the alleged remarks were made.

 

“The so-called apology never referenced Madam Ekwunife’s initial video and audio but instead focused on an unsigned article. This only points to her complicity, directly or indirectly, as the source of the article. It implies that no genuine apology was intended or tendered,” Opara said.

 

The governor’s aide recalled that Dr. Nonye Soludo had previously challenged Ekwunife to clear her name by:

 

1. Swearing an oath before the Blessed Sacrament affirming fidelity to her marriage.

 

 

2. Submitting her children for a DNA test, alongside the Soludo children, to disprove the infidelity allegations.

 

“Any contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of her defamatory statements,” Opara insisted. “Slander or libel directly made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or proxy.”

 

Describing the unsigned statement as nothing more than “unsubstantiated social media gossip,” the Soludo administration said it would disregard the purported apology and continue to demand a clear and unambiguous retraction issued personally by Senator Ekwunife.

 

As of press time, Senator Ekwunife had not publicly responded to the governor’s latest remarks.