The Youth Coalition for Peace and Good Governance (YCPGG) has condemned the smear campaign against Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State that he allegedly allocated land to Fulani herdsmen for Ruga settlement project.
The group stated that the malicious campaign against the state governor was bound to fail.
In a statement on Saturday signed by Hon. Ikechukwu Ibeh (Coordinator) and Engr. Jude Onyema (Secretary), the group noted with “utter dismay yet another smear campaign against the peace-loving and high-performing Governor of Enugu State by mischief makers over the false and baseless allegation trending on social media that the governor has secretly allocated land for RUGA settlement to Fulani Herdsmen.
“This cheap blackmail is not only a blatant lie but another joke taken too far by the sponsors, who are abroad at the moment, in a failed attempt to distract the governor and mislead the good people of Enugu State and beyond.
“As a formidable youth group, we are fully aware that the South East Governors Forum through its Chairman, Gov. David Umahi, recently declared that there is no plan to establish Ruga settlement in any part of the south-east zone and further denied any plan by governors of the zone to cede any part of their land to Fulani Herdsmen.
“Consequently, this mischievous news that Enugu Governor has given land for RUGA secretly to the herders in “Aninri and Nkanu LGAs of Enugu State” is not only unfounded but a cheap blackmail that will fail as usual, because there is nothing like that in the state.
“We are aware that those sponsoring this mischievous falsehood on social media from their comfort zone abroad have an ulterior motive to blackmail, misinform and mislead the public, but our candid advice to them is that they should tread with caution and desist from peddling fake news that could undermine the existing peace and good governance in Enugu State.
“YCPGG strongly believes that the South East governors, who always speak with one voice, will sooner or later reaffirm their position on the issue of RUGA settlement which has already been suspended by the federal government.
“We therefore assured the detractors that the second term of Gov. Ugwuanyi will surely end in praise”, the statement added
