Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin Retd, the Kogi State governorship candidate of the Accord Party (AP) in the fast-approaching governorship election in the state is currently livid against the social media report making the rounds suggesting that he has stepped down for Yakubu Murtala Ajaka, the flag-bearing candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Refuting the viral rumour, the retired naval topnotch described the insinuation inherent in the story as an insult to his personality.
According to Jibrin, there is no truth whatsoever in the mischievous report, which, he observed was deliberately planted to cause confusion.
“It is an insult to my person to step down for Muri who, by all standards, is not my match”; Jibrin fumed.
The AP flag bearer in the statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Lokoja, implored his supporters and members of the public to disregard the mischievous report even as he reassured them that he remains very much determined, focused and undeterred in the race to clinch the number one seat of the state.
Jibrin reiterated that he remained fully in the governorship race with his running mate, Comrade Raphael Olamife, insisting that he could not have withdrawn for anybody.
Meanwhile, the no-nonsense naval chief has advised media practitioners against peddling unconfirmed rumours in the guise of news stories, especially during an electioneering season like this, when some desperate politicians are usually ready to do anything to achieve their selfish interests.
The retired naval chief who described the report as “a lie from the pit of hell”, has thus threatened legal action against the publishers of the report which he found vexatious.
The full text of Jibrin’s statement reads:
“Our attention has been drawn to a fallacious and apparently malicious online publication by some Reporters mischievously purporting a fairy tale withdrawal from the governorship race by Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin of Kogi APP for Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka of SDP.
“We, therefore, write to make the following clarifications: That the said publication is completely false, totally mendacious and the hallucinatory imagination of the publisher, who in search for cheap publicity decided to concoct a totally baseless and unfounded fallacy against the person of Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin Rtd.
“That there is no reason for Jibrin to withdraw from a race in which every available poll analysis places him above other contenders.
“That the write-up is a big joke and a clear insult to the person of Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin Rtd, who has so far manifested seriousness by triumphing over many adversaries in pursuit of this same governorship project.
“That the article is nothing but a failed attempt at applying the propaganda strategy of deploying a strong brand like Jibrin to accord visibility to a weaker brand through the act of name-dropping.
“That the public should disregard the publication as a fabricated lie from the pit of hell and the hatchet job of a desperate pen pusher for little pecuniary benefits and should rather sustain their vociferous, aggressive and massive support for Jibrin whose chiefest pursuit remains the liberation of Kogi State from many years of under-development.”
