A social media post claims that Francis Nwifuru, governor of Ebonyi, suspended 25 commissioners and other appointees for failing to attend his child’s birthday party.
The claim posted by IgboHistory&Facts on X has gathered over 117k views, 1.3k likes, 777 reposts, and 505 comments.
The post was also accompanied by an image of Nwifuru with his wife and child. The claim was also posted by other social media users, as seen here, here, and here.
On Tuesday, Nwifuru suspended 25 commissioners, 14 senior special assistants, 24 special assistants, and 22 permanent secretaries for allegedly failing to attend an important government function.
The governor said the affected officials will serve a one-month working suspension without salary and will also be barred from signing any official documents during the period.
VERIFYING THE CLAIM
CableCheck reviewed the governor’s Facebook page and found that the photo used in the claim was from his daughter’s birthday thanksgiving mass, held on Sunday, July 27 — two days before the suspension was announced.
We also contacted Monday Uzor, chief press secretary to the Ebonyi governor, who described the claim as “mischievous”.
Uzor said the suspension was handed down to the officials due to their failure to attend the basic school sports competition, organised by the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) of the state.
According to him, the governor had asked Patricia Obila, his deputy, to represent him at the event and instructed other officials to attend as well, but most of them failed to show up
“The governor was away and had instructed his deputy to represent him at the grand finale of the Basic School Sports competition organised by the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC). However, most of his commissioners and appointees failed to attend,” Uzor told CableCheck.
“So, when the governor learnt about it, he had to take action, as this was not the first time it was happening.
“The people peddling this narrative are just mischievous. They know the truth.
“And for that picture circulating, it is unrelated to the suspension. It was taken at a private event hosted by the governor in July.”
We also searched through Obila’s Facebook page and found that the said event took place on Friday, July 25 — two days before Nwifuru’s daughter’s birthday.
VERDICT
The claim that Nwifuru suspended his commissioners and appointees for failing to attend his daughter’s birthday is false.
