A fresh leadership crisis is brewing in Isiagu Akpawfu autonomous community, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, following allegations of imposition of a traditional ruler without due electoral process.
Investigations indicate that although the matter of the community’s traditional stool is still before the Court of Appeal, a Certificate of Return has already been issued to Prince Tony Ike Okoye.
This development has sparked widespread discontent among many natives of the community.
Addressing journalists over the weekend, one of the contenders for the Igweship position, Chief James Ede Ogbu, expressed shock over his disqualification on the basis of alleged non-indigene status, a claim he strongly refuted.
“I’m from Obodo Onovo Nwowo and it is gazetted. Telling me that I’m not from the autonomous community made me to ask why this should be so,” he said.
Chief Ogbu alleged that the omission of his family name from the community’s records was a calculated move to edge him out of the contest.
He insisted that the community’s constitution stipulates that an Igwe must emerge through an election, not imposition, and maintained that no election was held before Okoye was declared traditional ruler.
According to him, three candidates were screened and cleared to contest before Okoye obtained an injunction that abruptly halted the process.
Ogbu revealed that he had since appealed the judgment in a bid to challenge the claim that he is not a bonafide indigene of the community.
He said it came as a shock that while the appeal is still pending, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Matters and Rural Development, Okey Ogbodo, went ahead to officially recognise Okoye as the traditional ruler on April 26, 2025.
Calling for Governor Peter Mbah’s intervention, Ogbu said he felt marginalized and unjustly treated.
Lending his voice to the concern, Assistant Secretary of the community’s town union, Ede Stephen, also refuted claims that Ogbu is not from Isiagu Akpawfu.
“I’m saying this because conscience is an open wound that only truth can heal. We do not want the government to recognise anybody as Igwe for now. We have not gotten any Igwe; we want to choose our Igwe through an election,” Stephen stated.
The community now looks to the state government to step in and ensure justice and due process prevail.
