Ebonyi APC guber candidate, party chairman escape death in auto-crash
From Chinedu Nwafor, Abakaliki
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State for the 2023 governorship election, Hon Francis Nwifuru, on Friday, escaped death by whiskers, as truck rammed into his convoy on his way from Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of the State..
The State APC Chairman, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha, and the former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ambassador Frank Ogbuewu, who were in the same car with Mr Nwifuru also escaped death.
The incident occurred about some minutes past 4pm near the new building material market l, Abakaliki.
They were returning from a campaign rally of the APC held in Uburu, Governor David Umahi’s hometown.
The armoured SUV them was shattered beyond recognition, but all of them including Mr Nwifuru’s driver came out unscathed.
Mr Nwifuru who is also the Speaker of the State House of Assembly was at Uburu today to wrap up his local government rally, ahead of the general elections.
Speaking to journalists on the incident, Chief Austin Umahi, the Director General of Divine Mandate Campaign Organization, a platform of the APC campaign who was in the convoy, said it was an act of God that saved Mr Nwifuru in the accident.
He said for Mr Nwifuru and others to come out of the SUV unscathed, was an evidence that they came on the divine mandate platform.
Umahi said: “Yes, there was an accident but the act of God was massively demonstrated, in the sense that we came on the divine mandate platform and God actually demonstrated it.
“This accident would have been avoided but unfortunately, I don’t know whether the truck driver was drunk, because I personally narrowly escaped it and the next vehicle was our candidate’s vehicle (Mr Nwifuru’s vehicle), the truck driver just crossed the road and the next thing was that he knocked them to the bush.
“It’s unfortunate, but we thanked God for everything because our candidate had no scratch. His driver and the other two people in the vehicle had no scratch. Our candidate is in a very good mood and has just finished addressing some people here.”
