By Tony Okafor, Awka
The President-General of Nnewi, Prince Jude Osumuoh, has declared that the tenure of all elective offices in the community remains four years, dismissing claims that any valid agreement exists to alter the arrangement.
Speaking amid the lingering leadership dispute over the Nnewi North Local Government chairmanship, Osumuoh described documents being circulated to support contrary claims as fake, insisting that no unsigned agreement could have legal or traditional standing.
“Every elective tenure in Nnewi is four years. It has not changed,” he said, adding ,”Every quarter knows that elective positions are for a four-year tenure. That is a well-established fact in Nnewi. The document they are flying is fake. You cannot rely on an unsigned agreement. I cannot work with such documents as PG”.
The President-General also dismissed reports suggesting that the Nnewichi Quarter was planning to secede from the wider Nnewi community, describing such moves as politically motivated and incapable of succeeding.
“Nnewichi cannot secede from Nnewi. We have only one traditional ruler, Igwe Kenneth Orizu III. There is nothing like a traditional Prime Minister,” he state.
Commenting on previous legal challenges to the tenure of the incumbent chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Hon. Echezona Anazodo, Osumuoh said the courts had already affirmed that political parties retain the final authority in the selection of candidates.
According to him, the traditional ruler, Igwe Kenneth Orizu III, supports the government’s position on Anazodo’s candidacy.
“The Igwe cannot be at cross purposes with the government,” Osumuoh said.
He also dismissed threats by some individuals to prevent the monarch from performing this year’s Afia Olu Festival, insisting that no group has the authority to stop the royal father from carrying out his traditional responsibilities.
“Nobody can stop the Igwe from performing Afia Olu. His Majesty has concluded arrangements for the festival. I have meetings with him regularly. In fact, I have just come from the palace,” he added.
Osumuoh maintained that Mayor Anazodo was not responsible for the current disagreement, stressing that the controversy revolves around the political slot allocated to Umudim Quarter rather than the individual occupying it.
“The Mayor is not the contention. He has no hand in the crisis. It is Umudim’s slot. Even if they bring another person from Umudim, it remains the quarter’s turn,” he said.
The President-General further disclosed that the Town Secretary from Nnewichi Quarter had been suspended for alleged misconduct.
The Nnewi leadership dispute has centred on the interpretation of the community’s 1997 zoning agreement, which provides for the rotational sharing of elective political offices among Nnewi’s four quarters
