A chieftain of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prince Richard Ozobu, has said the emergence of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, as the President General, violated the constitution of the organization.
Ozobu said, the process that produced Iwuanyanwu as President General violated the section 13(2) of the Constitution of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo which stipulates that in the absence of the President and Deputy President General, the vice president whose state is next in alphabetical order shall act as the acting president general.
He stated that Iwuanyanwu who was among the three signatories to the amended Ohanaeze constitution in 2004 alongside Prof. Joe Irukwu and Col. Joe Achuzia, ought not to be part of those who violated the constitution.
The Ohanaeze chieftain explained that he had told Iwuanyanwu that his claim to the presidential position of Ohanaeze is faulty and can't stand
He insisted that the death of Ambassador George Obiozor and the former deputy president general ought to have been made known to the Imeobi and the general assembly that will empower the vice president to assume office as acting PG.
Ozobu alleged that the South East Governors selected Iwuanyanwu as President General without the ratification of the General Assembly which is the highest decision making organ of the organization.
He said; “Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu is not the President General of Ohanaeze because his emergence is unconstitutional. Iwuanyanwu should not be recognized as PG. Ohanaeze Ndigbo has a constitution which was amended in 2004. Iwuanyanwu’s signature is there because he was the chairman of the standing committee when the constitution was amended. How can Iwuanyanwu contravene the constitution and still claim to be the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo? This is unacceptable.
“The Governors selected Iwuanyanwu against the constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. There was no election. The Ohanaeze constitution does not permit appointment into executive positions. And it must also be stated that the Governors have no right to appoint a PG for Ohanaeze. Imeobi has no power to ratify any appointment or election in Ohanaeze.
“I have told Iwuanyanwu that I’m not against him becoming PG, but that the constitutional process must be followed. It has to be through election and the process must be ratified by the General Assembly. Ohanaeze PGs don’t emerge through appointment. Go and read article 13 of the Ohanaeze constitution, it says that in the absence of the President General and Deputy President General, the vice president whose state is next in alphabetical order shall act. Ohanaeze Ndigbo has always gone from one contravention of the constitution to another. Now, we are at the peak of it.
“The Governors have no role in the election of PGs. They are required by the constitution to help to fund the system, not to come and impose candidates. The constitution recognizes only one body that can elect people into executive positions. This is the general assembly. Imeobi has no power of election. Imeobi is like a rapid response team. Imeobi presents proposals to the general assembly which can only be approved by 2/3 majority. With these constitutional violations, Iwuanyanwu is not the President General of Ohanaeze.
“The constitution states that the PG will convene a meeting of the Imeobi through the Secretary General. The secretary General can also convene a meeting of the Imeobi in consultation with the PG. If we are going by the constitution, which PG did the secretary general consult before summoning a meeting of the Imeobi? Did the secretary general consult Obiozor who is dead? So, you can see that there was no validly convened Imeobi meeting.
“There are two factions of Ohanaeze. A committee was set up and the Bishops were asked to look into the issue. The two factions met the committee and presented their case. At the end, the Bishop upheld the election held in Owerri which produced Engr. Chidi Ibe, as valid. They have no right to suspend the Secretary or the PG; these officers can only be suspended by the General Assembly. The only recognized PG of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is Chief Chidi Ibe because his election was constitutional.
“We wouldn't have had these problems if they had adhered to the constitution of Ohanaeze. They forgot that no decision of the Imeobi can be acted upon until ratified by the General Assembly.”
No comments:
Post a Comment