A member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Chukwuma Martins Ekwueme, has firmly denied reports linking him to the endorsement of Barrister Chijioke Ezugwu for a second term as Executive Chairman of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Council.
Ekwueme was listed among political leaders said to have endorsed Ezugwu during a high-level stakeholders’ meeting held on Wednesday at Ikenga Hotel, Nsukka, ahead of the forthcoming APC ward and local government congresses.
However, in a strongly worded public notice, the lawmaker described the alleged endorsement as false and politically motivated.
“I wish to bring to the general public’s notice that my attention has been drawn to news circulating on social media regarding the purported endorsement of Barrister Chijioke Ezugwu, the Executive Chairman of UZO-UWANI LOCAL GOVERNMENT Council. It is claimed that I, Honourable Chukwuma Martins Ekwueme, was part of this fake endorsement,” he said.
He urged the public to disregard the claim, describing it as baseless.
“I wish to inform the good people of our dear state to disregard this information, as it should be treated as a conspiracy theory,” Ekwueme stated.
‘We Were Invited for Congress Briefing’
Clarifying his presence at the meeting, the lawmaker explained that stakeholders were invited solely to deliberate on the modalities for the upcoming APC ward and local government congresses.
“The stakeholders of Uzo-uwani Local Government Area were called to a meeting at Ikenga Hotels Nsukka by the council chairman to brief the stakeholders on how to go about the upcoming APC Ward and Local Government party Congress. Little did we know that he hired people to come and endorse him in our presence,” he alleged.
Describing the development as troubling, Ekwueme distanced himself from what he termed political desperation.
“This kind of desperation is highly disheartening, and I therefore distance myself from this kind of attitude, which is likely to cause political tension in our state,” he said.
To further clarify the purpose of the meeting, Ekwueme reproduced the original invitation sent to him:
“Good evening Honourable,
Please, this is to invite you to Uzo Uwani APC stakeholder’s meeting.
Theme: Ward and Local govt APC Congress
Venue: Ikenga Hotel Pool side
Time: 11am
Date: 11th Feb. 2026.
Signed:
Hon. Kingsley Tochukwu Ani
APC caretaker committee chairman
Uzo Uwani LGA”
Warning Against ‘Falsehood’
The lawmaker warned against what he described as deliberate misinformation capable of heating up the political atmosphere in the state.
“It is dangerous to our political atmosphere when some group of people are always eager in selling false hood to their people,” he said.
“I therefore urge the good people of Enugu State to treat every other information coming out from the meeting we held at Ikenga Hotels on the 11th of February 2026, apart from the modalities of the party Congress we were called to brief, as a lie from the pit of hell.”
Ekwueme reiterated that he neither endorsed nor participated in any move to back Ezugwu’s second-term ambition.
