New Monarch Elected As Soludo Dethrones Former Monarch In Aguata Community

By Julie Sylvia, Onitsha

With the dethronement of Igwe Humphrey Ejesieme of Umuona community, Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State, by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, over allegation of meddlesomeness in the affairs of Umuona Progressive Union, a new monarch, Igwe Sunday Ezeofor, was weekend elected, under water-tight security .

The new monarch who was elected under a closed door election, scored 145 votes against his rival, who got two votes and two invalid votes declared

Reacting to his victory during his post election speech, the Igwe-elect, Ezeofor, thanked the people for finding him worthy to be elected as their monarch adding that, “If you look at the result, my number is higher, nobody is perfect and we believe that God perfected it because they elected me. I am the Igwe-elect for now until coronation.

“I promised the town and the government that I will be doing those things I was called upon to do more than those that were here before me. I will make this town to be peaceful for everybody because there is problem in this town.

In his own contribution, the President General, PG, of the community, Chief Kenneth Okoli, said that the next step would be for the Igwe-elect to be issued with certificate of recognition and the next thing that would follow suit would be coronation of the new monarch.

“After the issuance of certificate, we coronate him because it is government first, the dethroned igwe was a problem to our community, both Umuada and everybody was affected to the extent that we moved vote of no confident on him in December 2021.

“We submitted the list to the Commissioner, and the Governor has the idea and started investigation, since one year, the governor took his time and investigated, then after what happened on December 28, we were in a meeting and the igwe came with his thugs, I was here presiding over a meeting. He sent his PA to come and call me, I told him, Igwe, ”you don’t inform me that you are coming, so that I can announce your arrival and welcome you.

“They wanted to kill me because they were fully armed, it was one of the eldest man who was here that rushed to the table, took the micro phone and moved for the adjournment of the meeting, and there was a support, we dismissed the meeting and I ran out of this place with the escortion of the vigilante who helped me to get to the road, and I ran back to Onitsha.

“His reason of this is because we will have an election in this December , so he wants to remove me and put his caretaker stooges, so that by December his caretaker will conduct the election. So today we earlier chose the election committee before this election of igwe,” he further explained.

Reacting on his defeat, Chief Akaolisa Ezeagu, a lecturer UNIZIK, said that, ” I am one of the contestants, I stepped down, even if I had two votes, when a society is going down, the conscience of that society has to rise up to retaliate the people. So that’s why I went into the race to bring the conscience of the people to reject the old order.

“The dethroned monarch was turning our culture upside down, he was not doing our culture and he is abandoning the custom, filtration of rascality into the throne, and the activities of the town,” he disclosed.

Also reacting, Hon.Anthony Okoli, former chairman, Aguata Local Government Area, stated “Today is a very joyous day in this community for the election of Igwe Sunday Ezeofor. We thank his Excellency, Governor Soludo, for giving us this opportunity which we have for nine years been longing for.

“We have been under torture by the young man, incidentally, the Governor heard about it and made investigations and discovered that we are saying the truth. Very soon we will go and show him to the Governor, so that he will give him certificate. We promise to be royal, cooperative and supportive to him.

“The man committed a lot of atrocities, he was insulting his subjects, bringing rascality to the community, he called the Reverend priests thieves, insulting everybody both the Governor, Commissioner, boasting that he was the one that appointed the Commissioner,” he said.

Speaking, High Chief Mathias Nnoruga, stated that, “We were four that contested for the monarch seat but two of us were disqualified for not being ozo title holders. For good nine years plus, Umuona is in Egypt, I wasn’t happy because I was formerly the PG of this community and one of the stakeholders, I handed over to Silas Akaneme. I didn’t know what people see in leadership,” he hinted.

Also in his contribution, Hon. Anthony Muobike, a member representing Aguata 11, in the State House of Assembly, said that, “I am in the House of Assembly to legislate and perform my oversight functions.”

He expressed satisfaction with the election of the new monarch adding that for nine years the community was in crises which hampered rapid infrastructural development of the community.

He paid glowing tribute to Governor Soludo for ensuring the restoration of peace in the community stating that now that a new monarch has come on board, peace has finally been restore.

When contacted, the dethroned monarch, Ejesieme, declined to make comment on the election and dethronement.

In a swift reaction, the chairman of the caretaker committee of the town union that was removed along side the monarch, Chief Okey Akaneme, said that Ejesieme was never dethroned but rather that the State Government withdrew his certificate of recognition over alleged invasion of the town union meeting with thugs.

“The President General, PG, of the community, Chief Kenneth Okoli, who I replaced was only interested in tarnishing the image of Igwe Ejesieme as he walked out on the monarch when the monarch came into the meeting venue. The monarch never came in with thugs as alleged.

“The community felt it was a slight to walk out on the monarch during the said meeting and sacked the executive led by Okoli, replaced them with caretaker led by me as head. What Government would have done in this case was to have set up a panel of enquiry to look into the matter or a caretaker committee for the community and not to organise for an election of a new monarch within nine days.

“Again the Okoli-led executive should have attacked me and not petitioning against the monarch who has not committed any crime to warrant his alleged removal as monarch. On the day of their so called election the entire community was militarized as if we were in a war. I counted about six loads of military personnel in trucks, and other local vigilante groups that included Ebube Agu,” he further disclosed.

Pic shows the new monarch dancing to the beat of music during his election weekend