* JOK


Abia state Commissioner of Information, John Okiyi Kalu named by Alex Otti as one of the masterminds behind a letter allegedly written by Gov Okezie Ikpeazu to Police Service Commission has reacted to allegations made by Otti.

In his statement titled: "Alex Otti might as well be the most odious liar known to humanity", JOK stated as follows:

My attention has been drawn to a statement credited to one Mr Alex Otti who claims to be “a citizen of Abia State” wherein he stated, among other things that, “This letter was masterminded by three people, the former CP Eneh Okon, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Anthony Agbazuere and the Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu. They subsequently sold the evil plot to Okezie Ikpeazu who had no problems lending his name and signature to it. I will reveal more information on this if any of them denies.”

Let me state without equivocation that Mr Otti lied against my person and possibly lied with other statements made in that publication titled “RE: PROTEST AGAINST THE TRANSFER OF THE ABIA STATE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, CP ENEH OKON”. The same way he lied about his local government of origin in 2015 and also lied to the people of Aba same year that he (as a private citizen) obtained International Finance Corporation (IFC) facility of USD 100bn (or USD 100m) to develop the city even when he knew that to be false and, of course, investigations at IFC proved him to be an audacious liar.

While I am well aware of the options available to me to seek legal redress for the above defamation from Mr Alex Otti, I am also aware of the judgement of Almighty God and, hence, will plead my case before Him in the public.

If what Mr Otti stated, concerning my “masterminding” or writing any fake or real letter, as cited by him, is true, may the Almighty God unleash very harsh judgement on me and my generations but bless him.  But if Mr Otti lied against me, as he is used to regularly lie about matters concerning Abia, may God judge him harshly along with his generations and bless me.

His only saving grace will be a public apology to me within 24 hours of this publication as after that I will leave everything to God the Just Judge.

For the benefit of those who may wish to know what I know or do not know about the said letter referred to by Otti, let me state that I only saw the online copy forwarded to me by a concerned citizen of Abia State, after the document was published by Otti’s media aide. The person who forwarded it to me  wanted to know if it was real or fake. I responded to the fellow that my focus was on carrying out the assignment given to me as a member of the state inter-ministerial committee on COVID-19 which entails, most importantly, saving our people from the rampaging coronavirus, and that I did not have time for political distractions in these trying times.

For the avoidance of doubt, I never discussed the writing of any letter, fake or real, as published by Otti, with Dr ACB Agbazuere or the former CP Ene Okon, at any time in my life and only saw the material document as posted by one of Otti’s minions. Mr Otti is free to publish any evidence linking me with the writing of the said letter, real or fake, or face God’s judgement as I have no time for litigations or “he said, she said" back and forth.

To those who do not know Mr Otti and his negative political interventions in Abia State, I urge you to always scrutinize every comment or statement from him including his greetings. If the man can confidently lie against me on a matter I knew nothing about you can imagine how many lies he must have fabricated against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu whom he sees as the reason for his serial failure to desperately Govern Abia State. If a man of his supposed pedigree can lie so freely and dangerously without any iota of verification, then such a person cannot be said to harbor any ambition founded on the required virtues or need to serve the people of our dear state. Otti lied against me in this matter and I am convinced he has serially and dangerously lied against Governor Ikpeazu in private and public utterances.

It is only unmitigated bitterness of the soul that will make a man who was roundly defeated for the same office in 2 polls, losing by even a wider margin in the second one, as well as at the Supreme Court, to continue to hold the public view that he won same election. Even elementary school pupils know that elections have rules and to win you must be so declared based on the rules of the game. Twice, Otti litigated his usually warped claims of victory up to the Supreme Court of Nigeria and on both occasions the court decided that he had no basis. It is both preposterous of him and contemptuous of the highest court in our land and the people of Abia State to claim he won an election after going through all the legal processes involved in validating a victory and still lost. That this false claim of non existent electoral victory is the basis for all the distractions, disruption and sabotage Mr Otti has unleashed on Abians is sad and unfortunate.

For the records, I stand by my previous statement that Barr. Emperor Gabriel works for Mr Otti as I am aware of a previous social media post made by him to the effect that he was hired by Otti to join his legal team at the tribunal. In fact, it was from his social media post that I first saw the particulars of Otti’s legal position at the tribunal. I challenge Otti and his minions to deny that Emperor made that unchallenged claim via the social media.

Regarding the ongoing legal issues of Emperor, while I understand his pain, I must once more state that I have no hand in the petition against him or his arrest and detention beyond knowing after the fact that the Governor was pained by one of his false, mischievous and malicious publications against his person to the effect that he swore an oath in India to steal the money of the people of the state. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is a husband and father to his children. He has always been a highly responsible family man who has committed all his life to promoting Christian values both in his family and the society at large. He is regarded as a highly revered Christian in his community of worship and before reasonable persons in general. It is therefore understandable why he was clearly pained by the malicious publication which sought to malign him and destroy all that he has built as a Christian over the years. As a peaceful man who does not see himself as being above the law no matter his exalted position, his only reasonable recourse was to seek peaceful redress through legal means, and no one can or should begrudge him for that.

His position, which he informed me of later is simply to give the said Barrister Emperor and other purveyors of the falsehood the opportunity to disgrace him in court by cogently and copiously defending their publications with proofs. He has publicly stated that he has never traveled to India since he was born and details of his international travels  are available with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). All anyone has to do to contradict his position is simply to subpoena his travel details from NIS and nail him in court. On the other hand, if Emperor and whoever sold him that fake news do not have evidence of his ever traveling to India or swearing any oath, let them simply apologize to him publicly and desist from manufacturing and sharing falsehood concerning him. That is not too much to ask by any genuinely aggrieved citizen. I know that if a public apology is issued, the Governor will most likely forgive and forget, as the good Christian that he is.

Come to think of it, is it not the same Governor Ikpeazu that provided funds for the treatment of Emperor Ogbonna when he was shot by suspected kidnappers some time ago? Can such a kind hearted man be said to be wicked and malicious? How many critics of his administration has Governor Ikpeazu arrested, caused to be beaten or threatened for criticizing his government? Yet, Abia is reputed to have the most acerbic and vitriolic purveyors of falsehood disguised as political opposition as led by Otti. Or does Mr Alex Otti not know that there is a red line between criticism and peddling of malicious falsehood? Will Alex Otti accept such lies against his person without recourse to legal redress? Was Emperor not detained by a law court following due process?

For more than four years this malicious rumor against the Governor was peddled by sundry opposition characters whose sponsors are now obviously showing up one after the other. The Governor restrained himself with patience thinking that Emperor and others involved would refrain and restrain themselves from such ignoble acts. Alas, they didn't! They couldn't!

Let me then ask: shouldn’t the Governor clear the records even if it’s for the sake of his grand children? Even first year law students know that when you publish or share falsehood over the internet against someone, you are risking jail term on the basis of our existing cybercrime law 2015. It beats me when those who should know allow themselves to be manipulated by desperate politicians who actually see and use them as mere pawns.

God sees the hearts of men and no amount of cosmetics can hide our thoughts from God. Let Him judge me and also judge my accuser, Alex Chioma Otti. But let me state that these 2023 election induced malice and lies are puerile and infantile as power belongs to God and God alone.

Lastly, I make bold to say that it is unconscionable to seek to distract the state with 2023 politics at a time the Government and our people are battling to save themselves from the rampaging COVID-19. And if anyone previously expected me to respond to political nonsense related to a fake or real letter when we have people battling for their lives as a result of COVID-19 infection, that person does not know me at all.

Please, let’s join hands to fight this virus in our state and nation. When it is time for politics, let those who are interested play politics, and lose or win.

(It is very important to state that this piece is strictly my personal opinion and has nothing to do with the Government of Abia State).

Thank you.

John Okiyi Kalu
28/04/2020