Enugu Community - Onoda-Ette, protests attempt to disregard constitution, impose Monarch
Onoda-Ette community in Igboeze North protests against Enugu State’s Commissioner, Deacon Okey Ogbodo, alleging interference in their traditional ruler selection process and constitutional subversion.
Members of Onoda-Ette autonomous community in Igboeze north local government area have protested alleged attempts by the Enugu state commissioner for Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Deacon Okey Ogbodo, to subvert the constitution of the community on the method of selecting a traditional ruler and impose a stooge on the people.
Onoda-Ette is a volatile community at the northern boundary of Enugu and Kogi state which experienced violent unrest in 2011 and has been without a traditional ruler for eight years since the demise of their former monarch, late Igwe Fidelis Onoja.
Protesting in their community square, on Monday, members of the community that included the elders, women and youths carried placards with different inscriptions. Some of the placards read: “Please allow the will of the people, justice to prevail in our community,” “Commissioner Ogbodo, don’t impose Igwe on our people,” “Selection of names by the commissioner opens rigging of the election,” “We don’t want crisis in our community again, nothing less than option A4, if…”
Speaking on the occasion, one of the elders of the community, Chief Christopher Obute narrated that on October 26 2024, there was a conclusive election conducted by the Enugu state Ministry of local government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs in their community field, to fill the vacant traditional stool with Chief Cyril Oshaba emerging as winner, but that it was cancelled at the end, even as a stooge who lost in the election was now being imposed on the community fa win.
“After the cancellation, the commissioner, Deacon Okey Ogbodo invited the elders where he said that there will be another election where the President General will bring a list of 15 persons per clan for the selection process but the PG just submitted names of people he liked and the list submitted by the elders was made nonsense. The election, if it will be repeated, should be by option A4 which is even contrary to our constitution. We have written to Governor Peter Mbah and the commissioner over the attempt to impose an Igwe on us, but we won’t be part of any charade of an electoral college,” Obute stated.
Another community leader, Pastor Innocent Itodo stated that the Igweship controversy came about because the community’s native practice of enthroning a traditional ruler through a selection process by the elders was abdicated for option A4 method.
“The power of selection is vested on the elders of our community. We are pleading with the Governor and the commissioner to follow our constitution which is a selection process by the elders and which has never caused a crisis. That is the constitution of the community and we plead with the government to please honour our constitution,” Itodo pleaded.
A woman leader, Mrs. Cecilia Odugwu concurred that in her lifetime, the production of a traditional ruler in the community had always been through a selection process by the elders.
“…but now they want to use money to buy it. These same people who want to buy it have been cheating on us; they took a councillorship position and every other thing that comes to the community. We are therefore begging the commissioner to please leave us alone. Since time immemorial it has been the elders that select our Igwe, some people now want to take leadership positions here by force and we are not happy, Odugwu lamented.
The presumed winner of the botched election, Chief Cyril Oshaba said that he met all the criteria, consulted all the 13 clans of the community and performed all the necessary rites and was endorsed for the stool.
“The community took me to Igboeze north local government council in Ogurute for a presentation and the council processed my documents, but in the process some people said I should not become the Igwe. The Ministry recommended that the Governor should approve my emergence, but a particular family is against me, it is that family that is now saying that the election should be conducted and when they saw that I won, they started kicking against the election and cancelled it.
“Now the commissioner is saying that it should be by delegate election which our people disagreed with and we said that we don’t want a crisis in the community again. Therefore, I’m pleading with His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah to please prevail on the ministry of local government, rural development and Chieftaincy affairs to abide by the constitution of our community which is the elders’ selection process.”
When contacted, the State commissioner for Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Deacon Okey Ogbodo, insisted that the second election would be by delegate election which he said will be conducted very soon.
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