The Senior Special Assistant to the Imo State Governor on Electronic and Creative Media, Ambrose Nwaogwugwu, has clarified that a statement circulating online regarding Afrobeats star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, was his personal opinion and not that of Governor Hope Uzodimma.
Nwaogwugwu, in a statement issued on Thursday, said the statement was authored by him in his capacity as a private citizen commenting on a topical national issue, and should not have been attributed to the Imo State governor.
He said the attribution had created a wrong impression, urging media platforms and bloggers to correct what he described as a misrepresentation.
“The comments being credited to the Governor by some bloggers are a clear misrepresentation of the facts.
“It is unfortunate that some bloggers chose to attribute the statement to the Governor when it was, in fact, a personal opinion I expressed in my capacity as a private citizen commenting on a topical national issue,” Nwaogwugwu stated.
He explained that official statements on behalf of Governor Uzodimma are issued by the Chief Press Secretary, while the Imo State Commissioner for Information speaks for the state government, except where other officials are expressly authorised.
The clarification followed reports linking the governor to comments on Davido’s recent call for a free and fair governorship election in Osun State.
Davido had, during a press conference on Wednesday, appealed to an unnamed politician from Imo State to allow the people of Osun to freely choose their preferred candidate in the August 15 governorship election.
The singer, while alleging concerns over possible interference in the poll, urged political actors to promote peace and respect the will of voters.
Reacting to the development, Nwaogwugwu said his response was made in his personal capacity and did not represent the position of Governor Uzodimma or the Imo State Government.
He urged media practitioners to exercise caution in attributing comments to public officials, stressing the need for accuracy, fairness and responsible journalism.
“It is therefore inappropriate to attribute a harmless personal opinion that I authored in my personal capacity to the Governor, particularly when the statement did not indicate that I was speaking on his behalf,” he added.
Nwaogwugwu subsequently called on media platforms that published the report to make corrections in order to properly reflect the source and context of the statement.
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