The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, on<\/p>\n
Monday, affirmed that no amount of blackmail would distract him from
\ndischarging his functions in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n
Lokpobiri said all the allegations against him by the suspected faction of
\nthe state Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led
\nby the party\u2019s state Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe were laughable and
\nbaseless.<\/p>\n
Oruminighe and his group accused Lokpobiri of purchasing his ministerial
\nslot from the state leader of the party and former Governor of the state,
\nChief Timipre Sylva.<\/p>\n
But Lokpobiri in a statement signed by his Media Assistant, Mr. Donald
\nOjogo, said he never got his appointment on the altar of financial
\ninducement.<\/p>\n
He threatened to seek redress in court by filing libel suit against
\npersons bent in damaging his hard-earned reputation.<\/p>\n
The statement read:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last few days, the Bayelsa state chapter of the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC) has contended with some unsavoury moments.<\/p>\n
\u201dUndoubtedly, these are orchestrated by an insignificant few within the
\nparty and oiled by some external forces who feel threatened about their
\npolitical future, especially as the APC challenges the outcome of the last
\ngovernorship election at the Election Petition Tribunal.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u00fdFrom the outset, the attitude of the Honourable Minister of State for
\nAgriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has been to ignore and avoid
\nresponding to all such untoward moves and circumstances around the APC. To
\nhim, such do not represent the much required cohesion, sincerity of
\npurpose and political maturity.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonetheless, in the view of the deliberate fabrication of lies and
\nmisrepresentation of facts on the part of those who have allowed
\nthemselves to be used in this blackmail venture, it has become very
\ncompelling to state the following:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hon Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri
\nnever got his appointment on the platter of financial negotiations as
\nexpressly insinuated by the suspended State chairman of the APC in Bayelsa
\nState, Chief Tiwei Oruminigha and his cohorts.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike other appointees of Mr President, Senator Lokpobiri was duly
\nconsidered worthy to be so appointed in his position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a clear case of misrepresentation of facts to insinuate that former
\ngovernor of Bayelsa who is the leader of the APC in Bayelsa State, Chief
\nTimipre Sylva collected money from the Hon minister before his appointment
\nas minister. This is an outright fabrication\u201d.<\/p>\n
The statement added: \u201cThe reference by Tiwei Orunimigha to statements
\npurportedly made by Hon minister in the build up to the 2015 elections
\n\u00fdthat he (Lokpobiri) never believed in the ability of the APC and its then
\npresidential candidate (now president), Muhammadu Buhari to win election
\nis nothing but an exhibition of either some form of delusion or incurable
\namnesia.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the records, the Hon Minister\u2019s political affinity with President
\nMuhammadu Buhari dates back to 2003 when he was the senatorial candidate
\nof the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party ( ANPP) fro Bayelsa West
\nSenatorial District.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had vigorously campaigned for him to be president then. The assertion
\nby Orunimigha can only be a fictionalised sermon heightened by defeated
\nexpectations. It is therefore a blackmail that cannot stand the test of
\ntime. It is neither capable of distracting the Hon minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cLastly, as a law abiding citizen, the Hon Minister wishes to state that
\nwhile an unsuspecting section of the media has the liberty to publish
\nunsubstantiated stories, he reserves the right to seek redress in the \u00fdlaw
\ncourts\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, on Monday, affirmed that no amount of blackmail would distract him from discharging his functions in the cabinet of President Muhammadu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n