ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
National Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), South-South, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, has denied membership of any political party in the country.
He has, therefore, called on a rights group, Concerned Nigerians Group (CNC), and two other online news platforms to retract an alleged libellous publication claiming that she was a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A publication by the rights group, published by two online news platforms, alleged that Prof. Gumus, who was nominated as a National Commissioner by President Muhammadu Buhari was a card-carrying member of the APC.
Buhari had written to the Senate, seeking the screening and subsequent confirmation of some national commissioners and resident electoral commissioners for INEC.
Among the nominees was Prof. Rhoda Gumus, who was the Dean of the School of Engineering at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Amassoma, Bayelsa State.
A letter by her solicitors, Adams Fasingha and Company, said the publication had caused the professor a great embarrassment and eroded her dignity in the society.
The letter signed by the Managing Solictor, Adams Fasingha, reads in part: “That our client is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Amassoma, Bayelsa State.
“That our client is non-partisan and does not belong to any known political party in Nigeria, including the All Progressive Congress (APC).
“That because of the academic track records of our client, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Muhammadu Buhari, nominated her as commissioner for INEC sometimes in December, 2021 and forwarded same to the National Assembly for confirmation.
“That our client was shocked and traumatised to hear that her name was published in the two online media that she was a card-carrying member of the APC.”
The letter further alleged that the libelous publication was a manifest falsehood geared towards misleading the general public and dragging her name in the mud.
It claimed that Prof. Gumus’ picture was super-imposed on a fake register and membership slip while her signature was forged and thumb-printed like an illiterate.
The letter, therefore, gave a 14-day ultimatum to the group and the online media concerned to retract the libellous, false and misleading article.
It also demanded that such retractions should be published in two national dailies in Nigeria, warning that failure and refusal to do so, the solicitors would be left with no other option but to institute the matter at a court of competent jurisdiction.
Recall that Prof Gumus, who recently lost her husband, would be one of only two women at the commission.
The 60-year-old Professor is from Koroama community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa. Her expertise is in Chemical Reaction Engineering and Reaction Kinetics.