Tension in Ogbunka over chieftaincy tussle, cabinet Chiefs trade words

The Chairman, Cabinet Chiefs of Ogbunka community, Orumba South Local government area, Anambra State and an elder statesman, Chief Chris Ifeanacho has accused Chief Mathew Ezeabiakwa of betrayal and double speak over the kingship tussle in the town.
Chief Ifeanacho, in an interview with odogwublog.com at his house in Ogbunka, wondered why few individuals from Ogbunka would want to plunge the community into crisis by crowning one Johnmark Anyaoha as the monarch why majority of the town were against such move.

He alleged that Chief Mathew Ezeabiakwa who should be one of the custodians of Ogbunka customs, decided to go against Ogbunka traditional ruler’s constitution (1985) as amended by taking sides with an unpopular candidate and purportedly crowning him against the rules guiding the community.

He said,”We just heard that few individuals gathered at night in his house and made him Igwe. It came as a surprise to us. I don’t even know where he was installed and how he was installed. There was no invitation to any person. We just woke up to hear that Johnmark is now the Igwe Ogbunka but the Igwe Ogbunka we know for now is Igwe Dr. Forster Ihejiofor and for peace to reign in Ogbunka, we are begging Governor Willie Obiano not to issue any certificate of recognition to the wrong person”.

Giving insight into the constitutional provisions of Ogbunka chieftaincy and traditional rulers’ constitution, Chief Iheanacho noted that Dr. Forster was installed by the representative Head of the most senior village which is Isiokpu in Ogbunka who incidentally is the custodian of Ogbunka traditional symbol of authority, the ofor Ogbunka, Chief Dr. Samuel Ikedi who he said convened the meeting for the installation on December 4th, 2020..

He added,”Our method of selecting a traditional ruler is enshrined in the Ogbunka Chieftaincy constitution of 1985 as amended. The constitution stated that Igweship in Ogbunka should be rotational, starting from Awuka village and in total obedience to this constitution, Ogbunka has given Awuka village the opportunity to select Igwe Ogbunka in line with what the constitution says .

“The constitution also stated that the eldest family in the eldest village, will install Igwe Ogbunka and in line with the dictates of the constitution, the Isiokpu village has the staff of authority of Ogbunka (Ofor) and that was where the HRH Igwe Dr. Forster Ezenwa Ihejiofor emerged and installed to the knowledge of all elders and stakeholders. I have not seen the kind of crowd that trooped out the day he was crowned. He danced from Orie market to his father’s house and to his own personal house.

“All the Ogbunka people, old and young, men and women, the youth, children were all present. The eldest family in Ogbunka, Umudiala, represented by Chief Felix Ike performed the installation ceremony. So we did not in any way derail from the constitution. We had another good person, Prof Promise Okpala who also indicated interest but stepped down for Dr. Foster.

When asked what informed their choice of Dr. Forster Ihejiofor, elder Chris Ifeanacho said, “The two are incompatible by all standards. Chief Johnmark, I know as a rich young man emerged from the blues. The only thing I know that Ogbunka has benefited from him was that he rebuilt one market stall out of over 10 market stalls for Awuka village in Ogbunka.

“If there is any other thing, I don’t know but Igwe Dr. Foster Ihejiofor singlehandedly transformed this community. He is a great philanthropist, not only here in Ogbunka but across towns and cities in Anambra state. He singlehandedly built a multimillion naira civic centre for this town, he built a cottage hospital here and another at Atani in Ogbaru council area of Anambra state. He gave scholarship to many, built houses for many youths and widows and sent many abroad for further studies. Igwe Foster Ihejiofor has over 200 graduates from this town, gives helping hand to Churches irrespective of denominations, he brought skill acquisition centre in Ogbunka for our youths and gives palliatives to indigent Ogbunka people annually, these philanthropy endeared him to our people and he is our Igwe”

Reacting on the telephone , Chief Mathew Ezeabiakwa who introduced himself as the traditional Prime Minister of the community, said Chief Ifeanacho connived with others to feed the public with lies about the community.

Chief Mathew Ezeabiakwa dispelled the allegations and claims, saying that Igwe Johnmark was selected according to the chieftaincy constitution of Ogbunka and the Anambra state traditional rulers law.

Referencing the backup from commissioner Obi, Ezeabiakwa said: “Chief Chris and his cohorts are bunch of lawless people. Ogbunka has a constitution and Anambra state has traditional rulers law. They are mere trouble makers. You can find out the truth from the Commissioner for Local government, Town Union and Chieftaincy matters or the Special Adviser to the Governor on Town Union Matters. They are all aware of what we did. So we followed the Anambra state law and the constitution of Ogbunka before crowning our king, Igwe Johnmark Anyaoha. They are the ones fuelling the crisis in the community.

“There is no problem in my community, they are just fermenting trouble. The Igwe’s cabinet crowned Igwe Johnmark according to the constitution of Ogbunka and the constitution of Anambra state law. The President General that crowned the second Igwe on the 5th after we crowned our Igwe on the second December, on which constitution did he rely on.

When asked how and why Chief Johnmark was selected for the Igweship stool, he said, “we wrote the village that supposed to produce the next Igwe and they sent two persons; Dr Forster Ihejiofor and Chief Johnmark Anyaoha and two of them completed forms before the Igwe’s cabinet. They paid N250,000 each. They appeared on 22 and 25th January, 2020 respectively.