Nkechinyere Ewa
Former Ebonyi State Senator, Emmanuel Uzor Onwe, has denied receiving or being offered N25 million by Governor Francis Nwifuru for media consultancy ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Onwe, a former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, described as false an allegation by social critic, Chika Nwoba, that he and six others were appointed media consultants by the Nwifuru administration and offered N25 million as service fees for the 2027 elections.
Speaking during the 2026 Ebonyi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Week, where he served as chairman of the occasion, Onwe said he was neither employed by the state government nor appointed as a media consultant.
He urged members of the public to disregard the allegation, insisting that his interventions in public discourse on the administration were based on his personal convictions and not on any financial arrangement with the government.
“I am not being employed by the Ebonyi State Government. I have not been given or offered N25 million or any such amount at all,” Onwe said.
He explained that his decision to defend some policies and achievements of the Nwifuru administration, while criticising others, was entirely voluntary.
“I do what I do on a personal impetus. I was not asked by any functionary of government—the governor, deputy governor or any other government official—to mount the studios of radio stations within and outside Ebonyi to defend some of the elements of government achievements and criticise some of the policies I do not believe are necessary for Ebonyi State at this time.
“Nobody paid me to do that, nobody asked me to do it, nobody called me to duty to do that, and I will continue to do that on my own zeal,” he said.
Onwe further stated that he had neither received an appointment letter nor held discussions with the state government concerning any consultancy role.
“Nobody has given me any letter of appointment. Nobody invited me or opened discussions about appointing me to do anything for the Ebonyi State Government or for the governance of the state,” he added.
The former senator, however, commended the Nwifuru administration for what he described as notable achievements in the education sector, particularly the sponsorship of about 300 Ebonyians for postgraduate studies overseas.
He said such investments in human capital development deserved recognition, while maintaining his opposition to the state’s proposed commercial airline project.
“But I still insist that in the area of education, the governor of Ebonyi State has performed so creditably that it must be recognised and applauded. Where he is getting it wrong, we must also recognise it,” Onwe said.
According to him, Ebonyi should prioritise sectors such as health and education rather than committing resources to establishing and operating a commercial airline at this time.
He said the opportunity cost of such an investment should instead be channelled into areas that would have a more direct impact on the people of the state.