Former minister of power as well as minister of science and technology, Bart Nnaji, was neither a member of Labour Party (LP) nor did he contest the governorship ticket of the party in Enugu State.
His media aide, Chijioke Ogbodo, who made the clarification in a statement, yesterday, described as false, news circulating on social media that Nnaji contested the 2023 governorship ticket of the party but lost to Chijioke Edoga, former member of House of Representatives and former commissioner in the state.
“There is a report making the rounds on the social media claiming that Nnaji contested the gubernatorial ticket of the Labour Party in Enugu State but lost to Edoga, an erstwhile House of Representatives member who has been a commissioner in the state.
“I would like to state categorically that Nnaji is not a member of the Labour Party and has never been. Therefore, there is no way he could have possibly participated in a struggle for the party’s ticket for any public office. The public is urged to ignore the false report,” he said.
Ogbodo said the former minister is currently preoccupied with how to develop Nigeria’s power sector, which he noted is a sine qua non for development.
“It is a stretch to allege that Nnaji is a member of the Labour Party, let alone contest unsuccessfully for the party’s gubernatorial ticket. His preoccupation right now is the development of the electric power sector, which is a sine qua non for rapid national economic growth but is in a poor shape,” he said.
He urged the public to ignore the reports and noted that the volume of visitors Nnaji has been receiving of late were as a result of his towering influence locally and internationally.
“Given his status in Nigerian society and antecedents on the international stage, it is only natural that people from all walks of life visit Nnaji regularly wherever he is.
“The near countless visitors include politicians and their supporters from various parties. As someone well reputed for an open-door policy, he cannot stop any set of persons from associating with him.