By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The political tension in Anambra has taken another dramatic twist as the wife of the state governor, Dr. (Mrs.) Nonye Frances Soludo, has finally broken her silence and responded to the barrage of attacks and allegations made against her, her husband, and even her children by Senator Uche Lilian Ekwunife, the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming November 8 election.
Mrs. Soludo, who had initially dismissed the former senator’s comments as “the usual Uche’s madness” and insisted that she would not descend into trading tantrums, said she could no longer endure the malicious allegations that have continued to trend and gain weight across the media space.
Reacting in a statement issued on Saturday, the obviously angered Anambra First Lady accused Ekwunife of crossing a dangerous red line by dragging her innocent children into political mudslinging.
She recalled that her earlier response was to note that “one should not exchange words with a madman because passersby may not know the difference,” but stressed that she was left with no choice after hearing Ekwunife boast in a viral audio about fabricating the lies and allegations to destroy her (the Soludo) family, and boasting that she would fabricate more lies. According to her, she and her husband had laughed off the outbursts as another episode of what she described as the senator’s habitual tantrums, but the attack on her children made silence impossible.
The governor’s wife, who said she had hosted and fed Ekwunife and her children on several occasions in her home, expressed shock that the same woman could “fabricate and spew all manner of invectives and criminal allegations” against her family without provocation. She described it as evidence of someone who “can even kill.” She noted that many people had advised her to ignore the senator because “she is like a mad dog which has no shame or character and can therefore say or do anything anywhere.” However, she insisted that this time was different, declaring that Ekwunife had met “a different season with a different woman.”
“My weapons are decency, character, and grace. I am a long-distance runner, and I welcome you to the marathon,” she warned.
Mrs. Soludo noted that she had always lived a quiet family life, shunning publicity, and that her distaste for politics stemmed from the “shameless obscenities” often displayed by people like Ekwunife in the name of politics. She revealed that since the allegations broke, her phone had been flooded with hundreds of calls and messages offering her damaging information to use against the senator, but said she would continue to show restraint, at least for now.
The First Lady consequently she gave Ekwunife a 72-hour ultimatum to recant her statements and issue an unreserved public apology, warning that her lawyers had already been put on notice and that she would not hesitate to take every legal step necessary to ensure justice if she fails to comply.
Reiterating her position, the Mrs Soludo listed what she called three verifiable facts about her, noting that she had never worked for anyone in her life but had always been a professional and entrepreneur both in Nigeria and abroad, even when her husband served as CBN governor; and that she never met the late Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju in her life, contrary to Ekwunife’s claims. She also revealed that in her 55 years on earth, she had only “known” one man (Governor Soludo), whom she said she married as a virgin and to whom she said she had remained faithful for 33 years of marriage.
“This may be difficult for an Uche Ekwunife to comprehend,” she added pointedly.
Taking her rebuttal further, she issued two direct challenges to the senator. First, she urged Ekwunife to join her in swearing an oath of fidelity and chastity before the Blessed Sacrament at a Catholic Cathedral, alongside the Bible, within the next month. She said she and her children would swear that she had only ever known one man, her husband, and dared Ekwunife to do the same by swearing that she had never been unfaithful to her husband.
Secondly, she challenged Ekwunife to subject all their children to paternity tests in three reputable hospitals in London, offering to personally pay for the entire process, including travel and hospital expenses. She said her family was ready for the tests “any moment” between now and November and promised to congratulate Ekwunife with a cash award if the results confirmed that her husband fathered all her children.
“As a woman of conservative Catholic upbringing, I pride myself in my chastity. What about you?” she asked.
Describing Ekwunife’s video rant against her husband as laughable and infantile, Mrs. Soludo insisted that everyone knew the true source of her frustrations. She assured that her husband, whom she described as a “globally celebrated professor,” was too clean, too decent, and too sophisticated to waste his time on “low lives.”
“Nwoke bu nwoke! Enough said for now,” she concluded.
