‘I did not stop Obi’s Enugu town hall meeting' - Gov Mbah

Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, has reacted to allegations that he ordered the denial of a private facility to the Obi-Kwankwaso movement for its town hall meeting in the state, describing the claim as false.

Mbah described the allegation as false, insisting that he did not issue any such directive.

The governor disclosed this in a post on his Facebook handle while reacting to a video circulating on social media platforms over the alleged incident.

Recall that Princess Ada Ogbu, the Enugu East senatorial candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, had raised the alarm over alleged attempts to prevent the meeting, which is expected to feature former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi.

In a video circulating online, Ogbu alleged, “They are trying to stop Peter Obi’s town hall meeting in Enugu State for political reasons. It can never happen. We paid N3.5 million for the hall and an additional N500,000 for the outside space, but now they are trying to prevent us.”

However, reacting to the allegation, Mbah said he had no involvement in the reported development.

He said “My attention has just been drawn to a video circulating on some social media platforms, alleging that I gave an order denying a political party use of a private facility for their town hall event. This is preposterous and utter falsehood, because I did not.”

Mbah accused the opposition of adopting a desperate pattern to attract public attention.

He acknowledged that democracy guarantees freedom of expression but maintained that such freedom does not give anyone the right to defame others.

“Democracy also offers avenues to seek redress. So, let it be known that there are redlines that should never be crossed,” the governor added.