An Ogoni son of repute and lawmaker in the Rivers State House Assembly Mr. Legborsi Nwidaadah has been caught in double standard in his Port Harcourt press briefing over the weekend. The lawmaker, who was first accused of collaborating to bring Shell Company back to Ogoniland, from where the company was sacked 20 years ago, reacted to the accusation in an Ogoni On-line forum and wrote thus:
“When this destructive rumour peddled by my own cousin Comrade Sunday Bekanwah against me came to my knowledge through the fallacious publication of the local National Network Newspaper owned by Mr. Jerry Needam (an Ogoni man), i thought it was a cheap publicity aimed at discrediting me and therefore felt i should not go to media war to settle our old family issues between my little cousin Sunny Bekanwah.
I have said and will continue to say it at every fora (in and outside Ogoni) including all my contributions on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly that” SHELL PETROLEUM DEV. COMPANY IS THE WORST ENEMY OF THE OGONI PEOPLE” I still stand by it that the SPDC or any other Oil company can never resum oil operation in our devasted land – Ogoni unless and until the Ogoni bill og Right is condidered and implemented. ” ON THE OGONI BILL OF RIGHT WE STAND”. The issue of Ogoni and Shell PDC re-entry into ogoni is not an issue that the Ogoni people will allow any single individual -elected or appointed to single handedly discuss with any Authority without the full knowledge and participation of MOSOP and its Affiliates and indeed seeking the consent of the entire Ogoni people. The story is fallacious, destructive, self seeking, a cover up and indeed a calculated attempt by Comrade Asset verification as well as the remediation of Well 10 going on in Yorla Oil Field.
I call on MOSOP (Local and International) and the good people Ogoni Ethnic Nationalities to carefully investigate the issue of Shell re-entry into Ogoni land and those behind it.
I am one of the pioneer members of the Ogoni struggle against the environmental degradation/ destruction of Ogoni environment and i will remain a member of that struggle (MOSOP) until the Ogoni agenda is achieved.
Thanks and God bless you.
Hon. Legborsi Nwidadah”
But those aren’t what the lawmaker said to the press in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital, Nigeria Thursday. According to a Tide-Online Justus Awaji’s report, lawmaker Legborsi had responded to an unfounded assassination plot accusation that was nowhere in the March, 27 National Network publication. The Awaji’s report continues as follows:
“Hon Nwidadah, representing Khana Constituency 1 in the state Assembly, who made the reaction at a press briefing yesterday categorically said that at no time did he plot to assassinate anyone for whatever reason as it was not in his character as a Christian and God-fearing representative of his people to be associated with such nefarious act, noting that life belongs to God, as it was sacrosanct, and should be respected.
A Port Harcourt-based local tabloid (named witheld) had alleged in the front page of its current edition that Hon Nwidadah had plotted to assassinate one Mr Sunny Bekenwah, described as a youth leader from his native Kpean community over his alleged 2015 political ambition.
Reacting to the story, Hon Nwidadah described the said Mr Bekenwah as his cousin, with whom he had disagreement over ‘ his criminal and cult related activities in Kpean that had led to his arrest and detention previously, alleging that the purported youth leader was currently standing trial over the same criminal activities in a Port Harcourt Magistrate Court.
Nwidadah expressed surprise that his junior cousin (Bekenwah) could go to the extent of accusing him falsely of a plot to assassinate him because he had always stood against his criminal activities in and around Kpean community, and wondered why the newspaper did not get his own side of the story before publishing the malicious and unfounded story.
Nwidadah advised the public to disregard the story, explaining that “the problem I have with Sunny is that I have always advised him against his involvement in criminal activities, and he has always ignored my advice.
So, when his excesses landed him in court, where he is currently standing trial, he came to my house with his wife and asked for my intervention, to stall the court’s proceedings but I washed off my hands and told him point blank that since he would not heed my advice, the law should take its course. This is my offence, the bone of contention is that I refused to assist him in his court case.”
There was no mentioning of himself being accused of working to bring Shell back to Ogoniland in the second reactions or press briefing, a thing many see as double standard on the character of the lawmaker.
The question then is what happened or why did Mr. Nwidaadah fail to mention himself being accused of collaborating with Amaechi to bring Shell back to Ogoni in his press briefing at Port Harcourt?
Source: OgoniNews