A socio-political group Noble Youths Mass Support Association (NYMSA) has described as sad and unfortunate a recent report in Sahara Reporters in which the reputation of Pastor Umo Eno a governorship aspirant in Akwa ibom state was allegedly maligned.
The group in a press statement endorsed by Comrade Wisdom Bassey Director of Communications tagged: Sahara Reporter’s Attack on Umo Eno: An Effort in Futility said,
“The report by Sahara Reporters with the headline- “EXCLUSIVE: How Akwa Ibom Governor’s Anointed Candidate, Umo Eno, Forged Court Document, used Secret Police (DSS) to Arrest Hotel Workers” is another effort in futility to discredit the person of the Honorable Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources, who incidentally is the preferred successor of His Excellency the governor of Akwa Ibom’’.
According to the group, “In contemporary political season, (Nigeria as a case study), many intrigues abound, including clandestine plots and schemes aimed at dislodging and discrediting some persons. Prevalent scheme is to resort to sponsored media attacks, propaganda, and blackmail, campaign of calumny, character assassination and unnecessary sensationalism as measures to make some respectable persons in society become less valuable in the eyes of right thinking members of the public.
The press statement further highlighted, “We have got Intel that some aspirants have paid selected tabloids and some media hirelings to blackmail and spread propaganda against Pst Umo Eno, a practice which is against the ethics of journalism.
“Without doubt, Pst Umo Eno’s wide acceptance and endorsement by the Peoples Democratic Party’s stakeholders is seen as a direct threat against their aspirations. Truth is, Pst Umo Eno’s hardwork, humility, dignity, intelligence and godliness informed the statewide acceptance of his candidature in a matter of days.
The statement emphasized, “The call by the writer for Akwa Ibom PDP to reject Pst Umo Eno’s candidacy has vindicated our position that the sponsored blackmail is the handwork of aggrieved contenders in the forth coming PDP governorship primary.
“It is very unthinkable that a business guru of his standing, and leader of Hospitality Industry in the state would engage in such anti-labour policies of forging court documents and engaging the DSS to arrest Hotel Workers. Those who engage in business know that no sane entrepreneur, like Umo Eno would do this, as poor and unfair treatment of the workforce directly affects productivity”.
The group claimed that a recent interaction with Royalty Hotels workers in Eket and the independent investigation by NYMSA has proven beyond doubt that such never happened.
“Workers(past and present) contacted by the Forum who spoke individually to our team frowned at such salt less cooked up story by those who felt frustrated by the choice of Umo Eno by Governor Udom Emmanuel, and by extension PDP stakeholders and Akwa Ibom people across the three senatorial districts of the state”.
The group appealed to the general public to ignore the published story on the governorship hopeful, Pst Umo Eno and join hand to sustain the peace and development seen in the state while advising politicians to focus on issue-based debate and desist from mudslinging.
