‘Leaked audio, plot against Amaechi, southsouth’

Integrity Group has described the audio purportedly by the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, as sheer blackmail against the minister and the southsouth region.

The director, Livingstone Wechie, stated in Abuja that “it is most unfortunate that fake news has gone extreme to the point where honest, frank and private conversations can be so contrived with the aim of destroying the reputation of an individual and his region.”

Playing the audio back to back, the group pointed out ‘distortions’ to paint the minister in bad light before his principal and the public.

“May we state at this point that this mischievous release is targeted at setting Rotimi Amaechi up for political assassination, particularly at this era of desperate campaigns. This must be taken seriously by the relevant security agencies,” the group stated.

According to Wechie, it is important to note that the audio in question, though obviously manipulated, still expresses issues that are common knowledge, which, at various fora, the president himself and his wife, Aisha, had talked about.

He regretted that the plot to subtly portray Amaechi as a saboteur and undermine the southsouth in the current dispensation “is unhealthy for our politics and it could be anybody’s turn, no matter the political party.”

Stating its apolitical nature, the group cautioned politicians and political jobbers to be more creative in their campaigns and generate competitive debate that would trigger citizens’ engagement for development.

“Politicians at this time must involve themselves in conversations that will deal with the fundamentals of our nationhood in pursuit of development, and not to inundate the citizenry with deception and waste the time of unsuspecting members of the public,” it added.

The group warned that more mischievous reports and calumnies might be in the offing from various fronts during the electioneering period and charged Nigerians to be on guard and insist on candidates with issue-based campaigns.