16th January, 2013
Trouble appears to be brewing in Ohaneze Ndigbo, the socio-political organisation of Nigeria’s Igbo ethnic group, following last Saturday’s election which produced Chief Enwo Igariwo as the president.
Already, the Delta state chapter of the , the Imo council of traditional rulers and the Ebonyi traditional rulers’ council, have dissociated themselves from the election.
In a protest copied to the five South East governors, Ambassador Leo Okogwu, on behalf of concerned Ohaneze stakeholders in Delta, said the election was not publicised.
“To add salt to injury, the voting forms were being monopolised by a circle of persons that hoarded them and refused to release them to those who, at short notice, hurried to the venue to cast their votes.
“It transpired that the posts had been shared and sealed, questioning the fairness of the organisers of the meeting,’’ the protest said.
It said the fiasco that ensued, leading to massive walkout, and the subsequent election thereafter, set aside all the accepted norms of inclusiveness in any democratic election and made nonsense of the idea of being just.
“It was as a result of this that the aggrieved asked for a re-run of the election to give them more time to prepare and participate effectively and have the submitted names properly harmonised,’’ he said.
On its part, the Imo council of traditional rulers said it was disturbed by the magnitude of confusion surrounding the election.
“No proper written notices for the elections were given, rather conflicting telephone messages were sent and received every other hour,’’ the letter signed by Eze Samuel Ohiri, the Chairman of the council, said.
“It is our view that this situation puts the integrity of Ohaneze Ndigbo to ridicule and therefore must be avoided.
“Please don’t kill Ohaneze Ndigbo,’’ Ohiri said.
The Ebonyi traditional rulers’ council, on its part, said it was not given adequate notice to produce three candidates for the presidential election which was zoned to the state.
The council said the Ebonyi chapter of Ohaneze had fixed Jan. 17 for its congress to prepare its candidates for the national election.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday, Mr Emma Okocha, a contestant for the position of publicity secretary, said new elections would hold in Abakaliki on January 19 as elected by the Ohaneze Council of Ime-Obi.
Okocha said state chapters were not given adequate notice to organise their congresses before the January 12 election, saying that the list of participants was drawn by politicians in Abuja.
“I belong to an Ohaneze that is not affiliated to any political party.
“It is a socio-cultural organisation and politicians cannot dictate what happens there,’’ he said.