A former chairman of Okigwe local government area of Imo State, Pastor Frank Onwumere, has denied knowledge and involvement in a viral petition addressed to the national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) against an alleged N2billion provided by the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Netizens had woken up to the said petition on Sunday which was printed on the letterhead paper of Dominion Centre International located at Plot 35 Okigwe Road Owerri and allegedly signed by Frank Onwumere as Senior Pastor where he allegedly complained that the Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi had delivered N2billion to church leaders to canvass support during the elections.
In a swift response, Onwumere denied knowledge of the petition even as he maintained that he did not author or authorised anyone to pen the petition on his behalf.
Onwumere said “I wish to use this medium to inform the public, my associates, friends and family, that I, Hon. Pastor Frank Alozie Onwumere, did not author the said petition, and did not authorize anybody to do so on my behalf.
“Please be informed that:I am not a member of Dominion Center International and have never had any relationship with the organisation. The author of the petition is not known to me”.
Findings showed that the supposed Church address is fake as it does not exist.
Onwumere stated that it was not in his character to “malign any person or institution, let alone revered religious bodies”.
Spokesperson for the Peter Obi support group in Imo, Onwuansanya FCC Jones said “The APC and PDP are rattled by Peter Obi’s surge in the presidential contest. They have told themselves the truth that Peter Obi is the man to beat and they are now resorting to very dirty blackmail in an attempt to whittle down his popularity in key voting demographics.
“The letter is to demonise Obi and portray him as a moneybag who is buying up the huge support he is enjoying across the country.
“The thinking of the authors of this letter is that when the letter goes public that it would plant discord in the Nigerian Christendom and drive an outrage against Peter Obi and the leadership of the church, but they are failing woefully. Nigerians have gone beyond such sentiments. They are embracing Peter Obi, not because he is a Christian or because their Pastor instructed them to do so, but because they have been starved, deprived, frustrated, terrorised and dehumanised by the behemoth of PDAPC”, the statement read.
