The protracted tussle for the Igweship stool of Isiagu Akpawfu autonomous community in Nkanu East Council Area of Enugu State is brewing more crisis over alleged plot by vested interests to impose a traditional ruler on the community without election in contravention of the community’s constitution.
Findings show that an appeal against an earlier ruling of the lower is currently pending before the Court of Appeal, but one prince Tony Okoye has already been presented with Certificate of recognition and Return, a development that did not go down well with majority of the natives of the locality.
Worried by the development, one of the contestants to the Igweship stool, CHIEF JAMES EDE OGBU who spoke with journalists in Enugu said he was disqualified on the grounds that he was not a native of the autonomous community, an allegation he described as funny and laughable.
According to Ogbu, there was deliberate omission of his family name from the community list, which he described as a conspiracy aimed at stopping him from participating in the Igweship election.
Ogbu, further stressed that the only way Igwe can emerge according to their constitution was through election and not imposition, insisting that there was no election that led to the emergence of Prince Tony Ike Okoye.
He noted that three contestants had earlier been screened and cleared by the electoral committee but was surprised when Okoye went to obtain an injuction that stopped the process.
Ogbu stated that he appealed against the judgment swiftly to correct the impression that he was not a citizen of the community.
He averred that he was surprised that while the case was still pending before the court, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Matters and Rural Development, Chief Okey Ogbodo recognized Okoye as the traditional ruler of their community on 26th April, 2025 without conducting an election.
He therefore, appealed to Governor Peter Mbah to wade into the matter because he felt cheated and oppressed.
Speaking in the same vein, the town union assistant secretary of the town union of the autonomous community, Mr. Ibezimako Ede Stephen said the purported claim that Ogbu is not from the community is false and appealed to the governor to come to their rescue in the matter.
