Victor EzejaConcerned Ohaneze Ndigbo Stakeholders and Youth Leaders Coalition have rejected the appointment of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu as President General of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo worldwide.
The coalition made up of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Stakeholders, Igbo group representatives, Youth/Student leaders and other concerned groups from across the country, had a meeting in Enugu on Friday, 28th April to discuss recent events in the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation.
The coalition in a communiqué released on Friday, after the meeting said the emergence of Iwuanyanwu as President General of Ohanaeze amounts to imposition, adding that sections of the constitution that provide for an election were not adhered to.
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They alleged that the apex Igbo body is being high-jacked and politicized by people with partisan interests.
Chief Iwuanyanwu, an elder statesman, who hails from Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, was recently appointed as President-General of Ohanaeze by the Igbo elders in Owerri to succeed Prof. George Obiozor, who passed away in December last year.
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According to the principle of rotation among the states under the Igbo body, it is the turn of Imo State indigenes to produce the president General from 2021 to 2025. It is still the turn of Imo State to replace Obiozor till 2025.
Spokesman of Ohanaeze, Dr Alex Ogbonna said that the organisation’s leadership applied the doctrine of necessity in selecting Iwuanyanwu.
He maintained that Iwuanyanwu is an Igbo figure that the Southeast governors would respect, and urged those criticising his emergence to allow peace to reign in Igboland.
Iwuanyanwu will be presented to Imeobi, the highest decision making organ of Ohanaeze on Sunday.
However, the concerned stakeholders of the Pan-Igbo group insisted that due process as stipulated in the constitution should be followed to avoid setting bad precedence that could deepen the crisis in the organisation.
They also called for an election to be conducted for the office of Deputy President-General to come from Rivers State.
The communiqué was signed by Hon. Tony Uche Chukwudi Ezekwelu, former National Youth Leader, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide; Dr Arthur Uchenna Obiorah, National President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing worldwide and Leader of Supreme Youth Stakeholders Council, among other stakeholders.
Part of the communiqué read: “We the concerned Igbo/Ohanaeze Ndigbo Stakeholders and Youth Leaders Coalition having watched with keen interests and serious trepidation, seriously deliberated on the recent untoward developments and unfortunate politicisations surrounding and associated with the forthcoming Ohaneze Ndigbo President General and Deputy President General election to replace our eminent deceased PG, Prof George Obiozor from Imo state and the Late Deputy President General from Rivers State as well.
“We have closely watched with serious disappointment how some partisan political interests are using supposed elders and Royal Fathers under the aegis of Imo Elders/Political leaders to hijack the Ohaneze electoral process and unilaterally impose a new PG on Ohanaeze Ndigbo without regards to the extant constitution of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, which is very wrong and should not be allowed to become a bad precedent in Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which at this stage needs to be salvaged from partisan politics and external influences and strengthened appropriately to live up to expectations of the majority of Igbos.
“We condemn in totality the new strange Igbo culture of handpicking and instituting leaderships for political friendship and patronage. This was exactly how Ohanaeze Ndigbo under Chief John Nnia Nwodo in the twilight of his administration bastardised the traditional leadership selection process of Ohanaeze Ndigbo for political and pecuniary interests, selling the supposed independent socio-political umbrella body of all Igbo of divers interests to States Governors who handpicked their political/party loyalists to become Ohanaeze Ndigbo NEC members which led to unfortunate balkanisation, court cases and serious loss of respect, confidence and influence of the body. This ugly development must not be allowed to repeat itself because Igbo Nation is at Cross roads. Let the rule of law prevail because we are Igbos and we are Republican Democrats by nature. Nobody leads us by dragging us by the nose!”
The coalition called on National Executive Committee (NEC) and Imeobi Ohanaeze Ndigbo to throw open the contest for PG and DPG to encourage all Imo and Rivers qualified and healthy stakeholders to participate.
They further urged the NEC of Ohanaeze to set up credible electoral committee, provide timetable and guidelines as stipulated in the constitution and send to Imeobi for approval so that the process of election of President-General from Imo and Deputy President-General from Rivers shall be thrown open to begin in earnest.
“We strongly believe that many qualified candidates from where the best shall be chosen are waiting for this process to enable them formally present themselves for screening, public scrutiny and possible election to the referred ultimate office in Igbo Nation,” they stated.
They noted that they are not for or against any candidate but wants due process as provided in the constitution to be followed and pledged to mobilize Igbo stakeholders and resources to ensure that the election is properly conducted.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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