The tension created by the reported death of Hon Ossy Prestige, the Federal House of Representatives member form Abia state has been doused by his family and office.
Some social media handles were on Sunday filled with alleged news of the reps member, who represents Aba North/south federal constituency of Abia state, who was said to have died in Europe of an undisclosed illness.
But reacting to the reports on Monday in Aba, the family and office of the lawmaker said the reports were not true.
They accused that the rumours emanated from the premises of the federal legislator’s political opponents.
The statement however, confirmed that the lawmaker is still hospitalized somewhere in Europe where he was referred to for medical attention.
The statement, signed by Chukwu Nnanna and George Ezeikpe on behalf of the family and office the lawmaker respectively, said “The attention of the family and office of Hon. Prestige Ossy, a member representing Abia north/south federal constituency at the national assembly has been drawn to the premeditated ‘obituary’ as written and published by an online medium”
“Probably due to political motivation behind the story and not minding its sensitivity the publishers went ahead to publish the same even after admitting they did not reach out to the family.
The statement further informed the general public that Hon Ossy Prestige is not dead but is reconvening treatment in an undisclosed European country after he was transferred from the United Kingdom, adding that the lawmakers’ sickness started in October 2020 which the National Assembly according to the statement is aware of. Recall that Abia state political environment became frenzy on Sunday and early Monday because of the lawmakers’ alleged death on social media.
Hon Ossy Prestige is a grassroots politician and a two-time representative who defeated the candidates of People Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2015 and 2019 general polls respectively.