FACE YOUR PEOPLE, NOT THE EFCC: STOP THE SMEAR GAMES IN IKWUANO/UMUAHIA FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY
By HENRY ONYEMA MADUBUIKE
“He who alleges proves.” That simple maxim sits at the very foundation of law, justice, and civilized discourse across the world. Without proof, allegations remain exactly what they are: words in the air.
In Nigeria, no public official is above scrutiny. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, exists for that reason. Its mandate is clear: investigate, gather evidence, and where necessary, prosecute.
Yet in Abia State today, we are witnessing a shameful departure from that process. Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji and members of his family have become the target of a coordinated campaign of calumny.
The branding is crude and deliberate: “thieves.” The chanting is loud on blogs, in WhatsApp groups, and in sponsored write-ups. But here is the inconvenient truth: no court of competent jurisdiction has pronounced them guilty. No agency has secured a conviction.
This is not journalism. This is not oversight. This is hired noise.
To the slant writers on retainer and the political paymasters bankrolling them, we have a simple message: face your constituents. The people who elected you are asking questions you cannot answer.
What did you do with the allocations meant for roads in your Federal Constituency? Where are the boreholes you promised? How many classrooms did you build with the money appropriated last year?
Those are the issues Ikwuano/Umuahia constituents wake up to every morning. Potholed roads. Weaponized unemployment. Activated hunger. Dilapidated primary health centers. Diverted Federal Government interventions. Not another press release attacking a man whose record they already know.
The EFCC is not your personal attack dog. It is a law enforcement agency guided by evidence and due process. The attempt to manipulate it, to turn it into a tool for political vendetta, has failed, and will continue to fail.
You have tried to create the impression of guilt by repetition. Say a lie a hundred times and hope it becomes fact. But Abia people are wiser than that. They know the difference between an allegation and a conviction.
The desperation is obvious. When you have no scorecard to present, you manufacture an enemy. When you have no project to commission, you commission a smear campaign instead.
This infantile diversionary tactic insults the intelligence of the electorate. Our people are demanding accountability, not gossip. They want stewardship, not slander.
Let us be clear. If there is credible evidence against Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji or any member of his family, the EFCC is empowered to act. That is how the law works. Petitions are welcome. Investigations are welcome. Convictions, if they come, will be respected.
But until that happens, the presumption of innocence must stand. To do otherwise is to abandon the very legal architecture we claim to defend.
Dragging an entire family into the mud because of political differences is beneath the office many of you occupy. It is beneath the dignity of public service.
Abia State deserves better politics. We deserve debates about education funding, agricultural policy, youth employment, and security. We deserve leaders who can defend their budgets line by line.
Instead, we are being fed recycled rumors and sponsored outrage. The goal is not truth. The goal is distraction.
To the writers-for-hire: your craft can be put to better use. Write about the failed contracts in your constituencies. Investigate why projects were abandoned. Interview the market women who are struggling with inflation.
That is the journalism that changes communities. That is the work that earns respect.
To the paymasters: the money you are spending to pollute the media space would be better spent answering the petitions already before you. Your constituents are compiling their own scorecards, and they are not flattering.
The era of manipulating public opinion through lies has an expiry date. In 2026, voters have access to information, and they are using it. They are asking for performance, not propaganda.
So face the issues. Face your people. Stop hiding behind faceless blogs and stop trying to conscript the EFCC into a political fight you cannot win. Abia deserves leaders, not litigators of reputation. The court of public opinion is already in session, and it is demanding your stewardship, not your smear tactics.
HENRY ONYEMA MADUBUIKE is a Public Affairs Analyst.
