Governor Soludo, Wife Rejects Senator Ekwunife’s Alleged Apology

Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State and his wife, Dr. Nonye Soludo, have dismissed a reported apology attributed to Senator Uche Ekwunife, calling it “another fabrication.” Ekwunife, the All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy governorship candidate in the forthcoming Anambra election, was earlier accused of making allegations of infidelity against the governor’s wife. In a statement issued Wednesday and signed by Mazi Ejimofor Opara, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media, the administration said the apology did not originate from the senator and therefore lacked credibility. The statement, titled “Sen. Ekwunife’s Purported Apology: Another Fabrication Fit for the Waste Bin,” described the unsigned message, purportedly from the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization,” as “suspicious, misleading, and inadequate.” Opara explained that no such campaign group exists since Ekwunife is on a joint ticket with the APC governorship candidate. “The publication purporting to be an apology for the defamatory statements made against the Governor and his wife personally by Senator Ekwunife does not appear to have emanated from the Senator herself, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation,” the statement read. According to Opara, any genuine retraction must come directly from Ekwunife and “using the same channels through which the offensive remarks were made.” “The so-called apology never referenced Madam Ekwunife’s initial video and audio but instead focused on an unsigned article. This only points to her complicity, directly or indirectly, as the source of the article. It implies that no genuine apology was intended or tendered,” he added. The statement also recalled that Dr. Nonye Soludo had challenged Ekwunife to take two steps: “first, to swear an oath before the Blessed Sacrament affirming fidelity to her marriage; and second, to subject her children to a DNA test, alongside the Soludos’ own children, to disprove the infidelity allegations.” Opara stressed, “Any contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of her defamatory statements,” adding, “Slander or libel directly made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or proxy.” Describing the alleged apology as “another unsubstantiated social media gossip,” the governor’s office said it would treat the document as nonexistent while continuing to demand a “clear and unambiguous retraction” from the senator herself.