Senator Ireti Kingibe, Chair of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, has refuted claims that she funded the #EndBadGovernance protest in Abuja.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike had alleged that a lawmaker was among those backing the anti-government demonstrations, with accusations of providing the protesters with food and water.
Senator Kingibe clarified that the video being cited in these allegations was actually recorded six weeks ago during the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) protests outside the Labour Party headquarters in Abuja.
In a statement from her Special Assistant on Media, Kennedy Mbele, Senator Kingibe said, “I am deeply shocked and outraged by the falsehoods and misinformation being spread by those with malicious intent. The video in question is from over six weeks ago, related to an NLC protest at the Labour Party office.”
She continued, “As involved stakeholders, including Senators, House Representatives, and Mr. Peter Obi, we interacted with the protesters to address their concerns. Now, deceitful individuals are misrepresenting this old footage as recent and falsely attributing it to current protests.”
Kingibe emphasized, “This is a deliberate and desperate attempt to tarnish our reputations. Mr. Peter Obi is not in Abuja, and I have been home since Wednesday due to illness, making it impossible for me to have distributed food and water at the protests.”
She condemned the effort to spread these falsehoods and stressed, “Such irresponsible and shameless acts will not be tolerated. We will not stand by while our names and reputations are unjustly smeared by these unscrupulous individuals.”
