The Leader of the All Progressives Congress in Ihievbe Ward 04, the venerable Eric Iruolagbe Imonitie, has issued a clarion call to all House of Representatives aspirants across Owan Federal Constituency, admonishing them to eschew the corrosive path of calumny and embrace an issue-based campaign steeped in decorum. Speaking with the gravitas of a seasoned statesman, Imonitie averred that the sacred mandate to represent Owan East and Owan West must not be desecrated on the altar of character assassination, invectives, and spurious propaganda. “Owan is too enlightened for the politics of bitterness,” he declared. “Let your manifestoes speak, let your antecedents campaign, and let the people decide without the pollution of lies.”
Imonitie lamented that the proclivity for calumny has become a malignant tumor in our body politic, sapping the constituency of robust debate and reducing electoral contests to theatres of malice. He posited that when aspirants weaponize falsehood against opponents, they inadvertently impoverish the intellectual capital of the entire contest and insult the sensibilities of the electorate. The Ward 04 leader reminded all contenders that the National Assembly is a hallowed chamber for sober reflection and legislative craftsmanship, not a refuge for merchants of vitriol whose only currency is mudslinging. The destiny of Uzebba, Sobe, Afuze, and Otuo cannot be mortgaged to men who thrive on division.
With paternal candour, Imonitie charged the aspirants to be laser-focused on the hydra-headed challenges confronting Owan Federal Constituency — the epileptic power supply strangulating commerce, the deplorable state of federal roads, the alarming number of out-of-school children, and the pauperization of our agrarian population. These existential issues, he noted, demand cerebral engagement and pragmatic blueprints, not the distraction of frivolous petitions and social media warfare. “Campaign of calumny is the refuge of the incompetent,” he thundered. “If you have no programme for the people, no amount of defamation will manufacture one for you. The era of deceit is dead.”
The distinguished party chieftain further enjoined aspirants to emulate the ethos of healthy competition, where superior ideas triumph over inferior propaganda. He stressed that the APC, as a progressive entity, must lead by example in Owan by conducting primaries that are transparent, rancour-free, and devoid of subterfuge. Imonitie warned that any attempt to denigrate fellow party men or opposition figures for transient political gain would only fracture the fragile unity needed to deliver the constituency in the general elections. “We must not set our own house ablaze to spite a perceived enemy,” he cautioned. “After the primaries, we shall need one another to confront the real battle.”
In his final exhortation, Great Eric Iruolagbe Imonitie reminded all HOR aspirants that history is an unforgiving chronicler. Posterity will judge them not by the ferocity of their attacks, but by the nobility of their conduct and the substance of their vision. He therefore implored them to elevate the discourse, to be magnanimous in victory and gallant in defeat, and to remember that Owan Federal Constituency is greater than any individual ambition. “Be focused. Shun calumny. Campaign with your record, not with rumour,” he concluded. “For in the end, it is the people of Owan who will write your political epitaph — either as statesmen or as smear campaigners.”