“You are a liar,” Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) to Chidinma Okeke after her explosive Interview
7 minute read
Following the interview
Chidinma Okeke granted The Nation newspaper, where she claimed that ABS
pressured her into making her infamous lesbian video, the pageant
organizer has now come out to debunk her claims.
In a post on Facebook, one Uche Nworah wrote:
There is an Igbo saying that the more you repeat a lie, at some point people may begin to believe that it is the truth.
On this former Miss Anambra sex scandal, the management of the
Anambra Broadcasting Service had previously released a press statement
disassociating the organisation from it. We still stand on that
statement.
We have also made statements on the matter to the law enforcement
authorities. We understand that Miss Chidinma Okeke has also made
statements to the law enforcement authorities so we eagerly await their
findings.
It is however important that I correct certain statements that are
being made on this forum and in other fora especially concerning the
interview Miss Chidinma Okeke granted the Nation newspaper today. There
appears to be an agenda to push falsehood to the public and in so doing
malign me and the Anambra Broadcasting Service over a matter that we
know nothing about.
It appears that our silence over the matter, except the press
statement we issued earlier is now being exploited by those who are bent
on using the Miss Anambra sex scandal to settle political scores in
Anambra state.
It would also appear that Miss Chidinma Okeke has become a pawn in a larger politically motivated conspiracy.
The ABS as a socially responsible organisation fulfilled to the letter every part of the contract signed with Miss Chidinma Okeke, former Miss Anambra. This includes paying ALL her prize money of the sum of one million Naira only.
The ABS as a socially responsible organisation fulfilled to the letter every part of the contract signed with Miss Chidinma Okeke, former Miss Anambra. This includes paying ALL her prize money of the sum of one million Naira only.
This was paid in instalments in line with the contract. An initial
sum of N500,000 was paid to her after she signed her contract and the
balance of N500,000 was paid in N50,000 instalments over a 10 month
period.
She collected her last instalment of N50,000 on the 11th of October
2016, the day she handed over the crown to the organisers. We have
records of her signing for all the payments. We had to take the measure
of inviting the former Miss Anambra to the office on this date as that
was the day an anonymous individual had forwarded the videos to myself
and some other persons I do not know accusing the former queen of being a
lesbian.
The person said he was in possession of such similar videos numbering
over 10 allegedly showing the former queen in lesbian acts, as well as
her friends in the lesbian video performing sexual acts with men.
Details of these WhatsApp messages have been made available to the law
enforcement authorities. We took this decision as we did not want the
brand to be smeared with such a scandal as contained in Clause 1 of the
contract.
After the handover of the crown by Miss Chidinma Okeke to the Miss
Anambra project executives in the presence of the ABS management in the
office of the ABS MD/CEO, I dismissed all the other members of the
management with the exception of the ABS lawyer and one of the Miss
Anambra project executives.
I went on to show Miss Chidinma Okeke the videos I had received that
day from the anonymous individual and the messages from the person, I
then asked her if she had any knowledge of the video and she said yes. I
advised her to go home and confide in her family. I have not seen nor
spoken to her since that day as I do not know her whereabouts.
Miss Chidinma Okeke was not forced to sign the contract under duress
as alleged, rather a certain Nwakonobi Ifeanyi who is married to her
sister and acting as her guardian co-signed with her after they had
taken the contract home, studied and consulted over it.
As a respectable pageant, we have certain rules and regulations
guiding participation in the pageant and conduct of the queen during her
reign. During her one year reign, we supported Miss Chidinma Okeke the
very best way we could including sponsoring her to represent Nigeria in
the Miss Intercontinental pageant which held in Frankfurt Germany in
December 2015.
We sponsored her alongside one of the contestants who represented São
Tomé. This was our way of creating opportunities for them and opening
doors to international fame and modelling. Though not stated in the
contract but we also secured a free unlimited one year business class
return tickets to any destination in Nigeria for her and her chaperon
from one of our airline sponsors.
There is no iota of truth in the allegation that ABS is blackmailing
Chidinma Okeke over monies realised at her birthday party. As our
reigning queen, we organised a birthday party for her and used the
occasion to present to the public her pet project.
The event was co-sponsored by her uncle who was also at the event
alongside veteran Nollywood actor, Sir Obi Okoli who did not stay till
the end. Miss Chidinma Okeke and her uncle can testify that no money was
realised at the event as it was not a fund raising. Rather, the guests
that spoke encouraged her with words.
The Miss Anambra Beauty Pageant platform is indeed a wonderful one.
There is nothing wrong with the pageant. We have had winners and
participants on the platform who have gone on to do big things in their
lives and modelling careers. The pageant is solely private sector
funded.
The state government does not sponsor the pageant so please do not
believe the false story that the Anambra state government spends
millions of Naira sponsoring the pageant.
If you live in Awka or Anambra state, you will confirm that it is
usually a big event which generates a lot of excitement and buzz. As an
organisation, the pageant generates entertainment content and some
revenue for the ABS.
From the audition to the final event itself, the contestants are treated with the highest respect, courtesy and dignity.
They sign a document detailing dos and donts and pledge to be of good
conduct and behaviour both during camp and during the reign of the
eventual winner. In the past, the organisers have had to dismiss some
finalists from camp for misconduct, one for giving her number out to a
hotel guest where they are camped and another for being rude to fellow
contestants and the chaperon.
The pageant is judged to the highest standard. The judges are usually
former acclaimed national beauty queens and showbiz personalities. The
pageant overall is managed by a Pageant Creative Director who is a
former Miss Nigeria. We take every care to ensure that we deliver a good
show every year.
There are no preconditions of appearing in a sex video to contest in
the Miss Anambra pageant. We have had hundreds of contestants on the
pageant and they can testify to that. It makes no sense to try to blame
the organisers over an act that is as a result of one’s folly and greed.
If perhaps the said Miss Chidinma Okeke fell victim to conmen who
tricked her into believing that she will win a beauty pageant if she
appears in a sex video, if she goes ahead and participates in the said
video and the conmen turn around to blackmail her and extort money from
her with the sex video, how can I or the ABS be blamed for that? Did the
other participants and contestants on the show suffer the same fate?
Regarding the issue of the Miss Anambra vehicle, in line with clause
10 of the contract, the vehicle is an official car which the organisers
reserve the right to withdraw at the end of the queen’s reign.
It does appear that the issue of the car is what concerns the former
queen the most as statements to the media by her father, and even text
messages to me and discussions from people from her camp suggest so but
clearly as can be seen from the contract, the ABS acted as per contract
signed.
It is obvious that those who have been at the forefront pushing this
falsehood and allegation that I, Uche Nworah or the ABS has anything to
do with this have ulterior motives.
In this day and age of social media, it is now easy for anybody to
manufacture falsehood and post on social media for the unsuspecting
public to read, like and share but in the end truth triumphs.
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