How My Brother Betrayed Me: Ebonyi NDC Candidates Recounts Ordeal in Failed Assassination Attempt

MY RESPONSE TO THE HONOURABLE COMMISSIONER, OGUZORKANU OFFIA-NWALI

Before I respond to the Honourable Commissioner’s tirade against me and the exercise of my rights as a citizen of Nigeria, I would like to once again thank Almighty God for sparing our lives. It is only by His grace that we are alive today. I also wish to express my profound gratitude to the security operatives who contained the attack and successfully evacuated us. I once again express my deep sympathies to everyone affected.

I truly wonder what instructions those assailants were given that emboldened them to confront a heavily secured motorcade, shooting and reloading their guns without any fear of the security operatives. However, I will refrain from disclosing further details of an incident that is now a matter for the security agencies. Any attempt by anyone to attack the integrity of the institution and the operatives who responded to that attack is very uncharitable.

MY POLITICAL JOURNEY AND MY DISCUSSIONS WITH THE COMMISSIONER

In 2022, when I decided to contest the APC primaries, the Commissioner was the first person I consulted before making my ambition public. Of course, in his usual deceptive manner, he quickly assured me of his support and immediately proceeded to work against me. He called everyone he could reach to ensure that I was not allowed to contest or secure the ticket. He even supported my opponent. Every piece of confidential information I shared with him concerning my consultations strategy found its way to my opponent. Little did he know that I had already understood his pattern. I only told him what I wanted others to hear because I knew he was the appropriate loudspeaker to deliver the message. He never reached out to me again until the primaries were over. I did not go to court to challenge the primaries, even though everything that happened during the exercise was recorded on video.

In 2026, I consulted him again and informed him of my intention to recontest the APC primaries. He told me it was a good idea, informed me that the sitting member was unpopular, and promised to consult with stakeholders and get back to me. Instead, he proceeded to speak with every APC stakeholder he could reach, persuading them not to support me. Even after I paid for the APC nomination form and could not obtain it, he never got back to me regarding the consultations he had promised to undertake. I am still waiting for his feedback till today.

I peacefully left the APC, joined the NDC, contested its primaries and secured the ticket. He did not reach out to me.

Sometime in August, a young man made a Facebook video expressing support for my candidacy. Following that video, the young man was abducted, taken to the Commissioner’s residence in Ameka and assaulted. The evidence submitted by my party in a complaint to the security agencies concerning the Commissioner’s involvement includes footage showing him physically stepping on the young man’s head. Even after that incident, I did not attack or confront him. Instead, I waited until I returned home, called him and requested a meeting.

During our discussion, I explained that I was not against the Governor and that I had never made campaigning against him part of my political activities. I told my brother that I understood his position as an APC member and an appointee of the government, so I did not expect him to publicly support me. All I asked was that he should at least leave my supporters alone and allow them to exercise their rights freely. I even told him that, as my brother, he could easily make a token contribution to my campaign instead of fighting tooth and nail against it. In the course of that conversation, I reminded him that this is a democracy and that nobody should expect the APC to win every elective position in Ebonyi State. Interestingly, he told me that he doesn’t support the re-election of the sitting APC Senator. I then asked him, “Why are you against me, then, with the claim that you want APC from top to bottom?” He replied that the Governor had specifically instructed him to deliver the sitting House of Assembly member at all costs and that he must not allow me to win. I immediately told him that I did not believe that.

I am also aware that after this meeting, he took a photograph of the Toyota Hilux in which I arrived and circulated it among certain individuals.

Now, the Commissioner claims that certain individuals are using me to fight him. I have one simple question for him: When I contested the APC primaries in 2022, while he was still a civil servant in Abuja and a member of the PDP, who was using me to fight him then?

ON HIS REACTION TO THE ATTACK ON MY MOTORCADE

It is truly disappointing. The Commissioner claims that for two or three days, he repeatedly picked up his phone to write about the incident but struggled to find the appropriate words. I cannot help wondering whether the news he heard was different from what he expected to hear. For someone who claims to be my brother to care more about politics, political parties and the assailants who attacked my motorcade than about my life has left me utterly surprised. He repeatedly reminds everyone that he is my elder brother. What kind of loving elder brother does not call his younger brother after he has been involved in an assassination attempt? For three days, he struggled to write a statement, but he could not make one telephone call to ascertain whether I was injured or safe. He did not even call me to ask what really happened.

Instead, without even speaking to me, he had already concluded that I was the one who went there and directed the security operatives to shoot, even though he knows that I have never asked any of my supporters or anyone accompanying me to be violent or attack anybody.

If anyone had told me that someone who happens to be my brother would be the first to publicly twist the story of an incident that was planned to take my life and somehow try to make me the villain for political reasons, I would have doubted it. If someone had told me that my brother would place the lives of the thugs who attempted to kill me above my own life, I would have doubted it too. But here we are. This is the politics of the day, and I accept it.

ON HIS CLAIM THAT THE ASSAILANTS CAME WITH STICKS AND MACHETES

The Commissioner claims that the assailants are his friends and political party members and that they came with sticks and machetes. He also claims that he loves them so much and cares deeply about the dignity and sanctity of human life. The question is: If he genuinely values their lives as much as he values his own, why was he not in that Keke Napep or on one of those motorcycles, wielding his own gun, or sticks and machetes, as he claims? Or does he love them just enough that the only empowerment available to them is the capacity and sufficient brainwashing to ambush a military grade security motorcade? Why should young men be encouraged or allowed to confront armed security operatives in the name of politics? What kind of political leadership exposes young people to such danger while those who benefit from their political activities remain safely away from the confrontation?

He deliberately failed to mention that my Toyota Hilux was intercepted and completely burnt during the attack. I find that omission particularly disturbing, considering the information available to me that he had earlier photographed the same vehicle and circulated its photograph. Ordinarily, I would have been in that Hilux, but on that day, by a stroke of fate, I chose to travel in another vehicle. One can only wonder what the story would have been if I had been in the Hilux. Why was my vehicle photographed and its photograph circulated? To whom was the photograph sent? Was it intended to identify or mark my vehicle? These are questions I expect the security agencies to investigate thoroughly. I will not present suspicion as proof, but I will not ignore information that may be relevant to the attack.

ON HIS CLAIM THAT I HELD A POLITICAL MEETING AT HIS FATHER’S HOUSE WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION

The Commissioner claims that I held a political meeting at his father’s house without informing him. It should be noted that he has always lived at Obuchi Compound, while I lived at Nwivenwe long before our father’s death and continue to reside there. I therefore wonder why I should seek his permission to hold a meeting with my friends and supporters in a compound where I have always lived. And why should I seek permission from a man who has sworn to resign his appointment if I win any polling unit, or from someone who spends a big percentage of his time either threatening or sending people to attack and warn my supporters all over Ezza South.

When he took my opponent to our family land, where he now lives, castigated me in the presence of Ameka people and told them to vote for my opponent, did he ask for my permission? Why does he believe that he is entitled to exercise his political rights while I must seek his approval before exercising mine?

ON HIS ATTEMPT TO MAKE MY AMBITION A FIGHT BETWEEN KPAKPAJI AND IZZIKWORO

The Commissioner cleverly wants to make my ambition a fight between Kpakpaji and Izzikworo. If that is the issue, why doesn’t he simply allow the people to reject me at the polls? Why does he spend his time looking for the phone numbers of anyone who associates with me and then calling them to threaten or discourage them from supporting me?

Ultimately, this election should be about who is best prepared to represent the people of Ezza South. The questions that matter are straightforward: What does each candidate have to offer? If an incumbent is seeking another term, what has been achieved with the mandate already entrusted to him?

If his interest is equity, why did he vehemently oppose the chairmanship position going to Ameka unless he was allowed to resign his position as Commissioner and take it? Why did he vehemently oppose the position of Vice-Chancellor going to an Ameka person? How does he reconcile those positions with the equity and fairness he now claims to defend?

In my political contest, I have never asked anybody to compensate me with any position because Offia Nwali was my father. All I have consistently asked is to be allowed to contest on merit alongside other candidates and let the people decide. My position is founded on the Constitution and my inalienable rights as a citizen of Nigeria. Being a member of the Offia Nwali family does not give me more or fewer rights to exercise the freedoms guaranteed to me by the Constitution. Is the Commissioner of the opinion that because he has a government appointment, all my dreams and aspirations must die? I am well aware that His Excellency, the Governor, did not give him an appointment in our father’s name to oppress me or deny me my constitutional rights.

ON HIS CLAIM OF MASSIVE POLITICAL SUPPORT IN AMEKA

The Commissioner claims to have massive political support and a strong following in Ameka. If he genuinely has that support, why should there be any need to force, threaten or intimidate anyone into supporting his preferred candidate? You are not Adolf Hitler. Even Hitler had to convince Germans to support him. Political support should be earned through persuasion, service and the confidence of the people, not imposed through threats or intimidation. The people of Ezza South are not the political property of any individual, regardless of the appointment he holds or the influence he believes he commands. No Commissioner has the authority to determine who may contest an election, whom the people must support or whose political dreams must be abandoned.

FINALLY

The Commissioner has made it abundantly clear that he does not support my political ambition. I have never demanded his support. I only asked that he stop calling to threaten my supporters or sending people to attack them, and I do not require his endorsement to exercise my constitutional rights. He is free to support my opponent, campaign against me and vote for whomever he chooses. I have never questioned his right to do so. But he must equally recognise that I have the right to contest, meet my supporters and present myself to the people of Ezza South without intimidation. Let the people reject me at the polls, and I will congratulate the winner.

He should also understand that he is not presently a candidate for any elective position. If he were contesting for the House of Assembly, I would not have contested against him, just as I did not contest the chairmanship when I knew he was interested in the position. I have respected his political aspirations, and I expect him to respect my right to pursue mine, even if he chooses not to support me.

My constitutional rights are not privileges granted by anyone, and my political future is not subject to his or anyone else’s permission.

Lastly, having admitted that the thugs who attacked me are his friends, whom he loves so much, and members of his political party, I want to use this opportunity to inform every person of Ezza extraction around the world, every Ebonyi person, every Nigerian, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS and the National Security Adviser that should anything happen to me or any member of my family, I want the Commissioner held responsible and his possible involvement thoroughly investigated. I also call on the security agencies investigating the incident to thoroughly investigate the attack and ensure that the perpetrators and everyone found to have sponsored or facilitated it are brought to justice.

Thank you very much.

Rollins Ovu-unata Offia Nwali
NDC Candidate, Ebonyi State House of Assembly
Ezza South Constituency