The acting President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Bayelsa State, Chief Remigius Ekwem, has urged Governor Douye Diri to call his Commissioner for Special Duties, Mazi Johnson Onuma, to order over a leadership tussle in the state.
The leader of the group said this in a statement he signed and made available to newsmen in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Monday.
Ekwem decried Onuma’s involvement in a physical fight which left Chief Johnpaul Nwankwo, the Enugu State President of Ohanaeze, “badly injured and hospitalised”.
He wondered why Onuma, who hails from Abia State and serves as a commissioner in Bayelsa State, would be embroiled in a dispute over who becomes Igwe Ndigbo of Bayelsa State.
He argued that the position of Igwe Ndigbo was “open to contest and will be occupied by an elected official”, hence the need for due process.
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He warned that any attempt to foist a candidate on the association would be legally and duly resisted.
According to Ekwem, the position can also be zoned considering the states of origin of officials currently occupying other positions in Ohanaeze Ndigbo Bayelsa State.
He described the commissioner’s recent actions as “an embarrassment to the Bayelsa state government” and urged the governor to call Onuma in order to avert further damage.
He said: “Abia State is holding the office of the president, women leader, youth leader and now he wants to install another Abia person as the Igwe, a candidate who has not spent up to two years in Ohanaeze and is therefore not eligible to contest.
“If he had even supported a candidate known by Igbos in Bayelsa, we would have all supported him, so that he can contest with Chief Ozuome from Enugu so that anyone who wins will be installed.
“We, therefore, call on Governor Douye Diri to call his commissioner to order before more harm is done.”
Ekwem, however, said that Nwankwo, who is recuperating in a hospital, is in a stable condition.
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