- Ebonyi indigenes in the diaspora have reportedly denied protests against Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni after he reportedly clashed with Works Minister Dave Umahi on air. Ambassador Pascal Oruchukwu clarified that the group behind the protest did not represent the true voice of Ebonyi youth, urging the youth to resist manipulation and insist on accountability. He also warned Umahi to maintain dignity and transparency in public events.
Indigenes of Ebonyi State have stopped participating in protests against Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni following his recent clash with Works Minister Dave Umahi.
In a statement to DAILY POST on Saturday, Ambassador Pascal Oruchukwu, speaking on behalf of the Ebonyi Aboriginal people in the diaspora, said the so-called protests did not represent the true voice of the people.
The clarification comes shortly after reports emerged that some youths in Ebonyi State were planning to hold protests to demand an apology from Rufai Oseni over his live-streamed exchange with Umahi.
Reacting to the development, Oruchukwu said, “The groups orchestrating the protests against Rufai do not represent the broad voice of Ebonyi youths nor the spirit of the people of the state.”
He urged genuine Ebonyi youth to “rise above manipulation, focus on their future and refuse to be used to attack journalists or institutions that stand for accountability and transparency.”
According to him, “their actions will only reinforce the culture of sycophancy and intolerance that characterized Umahi’s unusually authoritarian eight years in office.”
Oluchukwu stressed that “transparency requires that no public official, past or present, should be considered to be above or outside the law.”
He further called on Arise News, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) and the public to ignore “the antics of selfish groups who seek to shield powerful people from accountability”.
In closing, Oluchukwu called on Senator Dave Umahi to “display the dignity required by his current position, respond to public inquiries with truth and humility, and desist from actions or statements that further tarnish the image of Ebonyi State and its people.”
