
The Abia State Government has vowed to clamp down on individuals peddling falsehood against the state, warning that perpetrators will face prosecution.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Okey Kanu, disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the week’s Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
Kanu emphasised that although the present administration would not adopt the “gestapo-style” methods of the past, where citizens’ rights were violated in the name of enforcement, it would not sit idly while malicious elements spread misinformation to cause disaffection among residents.
“While this State Government will not lend itself to the gestapo style of the past where people were arrested and their fundamental human rights breached, the State Government will no longer fold its arms and watch people with such bad intentions publish outright falsehood against the State Government,” Kanu stated.
He stressed that the Otti administration operates transparently and does not withhold information from the public, describing the growing trend of misinformation as a deliberate attempt to discredit the government.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner announced that Mr Friday Kalu Ohuche has been sworn in as Chief Economic Adviser to the State. He also revealed that Governor Otti had inaugurated the State’s Economic Management Team.
Kanu clarified that the inauguration of the economic management team does not in any way replace or diminish the roles of the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council, which counts among its members eminent personalities such as the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Mohammad; Ms Arunma Otteh; Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and Mr Bolaji Balogun.