Chief Enechi Onyia (SAN), a chieftain of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, has said he filed a lawsuit against the election of a faction of the Igbo apex social-cultural organisation challenging its propriety.
Onyia spoke yesterday in Enugu in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after filing the suit at the Enugu State High Court.
The eminent lawyer described the election as “a nullity and unacceptable”.
He noted that the Igbo socio-cultural organisation needed to avoid further leadership crises and rally the people for effective contributions to benefit from the Nigerian project.
Onyia, who is also the lead counsel in the lawsuit, averred that in the Last 16 years of democratic rule, the Igbo had not benefited from the Federal Government due to activities of “self-serving leaders”.
The lawyer said the organisation had been riddled with leadership crises which prompted Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha to call for a truce.
He said: “Then, they were parallel executives, led by Chief Enwo Igariwey and the other, which was a caretaker committee, led by Chief Ralph Obioha.
“We had five cases scattered in all the states in the zone, but in the interest of the people, we decided to allow Igariwey to lead up to January 2017.
“The agreement was that there shall be an election committee where Igariwey’s executive will contribute seven members, while that of Obioha will contribute five members and representation by the governors.”
Onyia noted that when the implementation of the agreement became impossible “the caretaker committee went to court”.
He said: “We asked the court to declare that Igariwey has no constitutional right to conduct any election into the executives of the organisation because his term had expired.
“At the court hearing, after the purported election, counsel to the respondents, Chief James Ikenyi (SAN), hid from the court the fact that his clients had conducted the election, irrespective of court action.
“But as far as we are concerned, what they did was an illegal act. The election has not held. They are prostituting Ohanaeze, and it will be resisted.”
NAN reports that some chieftains of the organisation, led by Sam Nwodo, Ralph Okafor and Haruna Aja, had filed a suit against the Igariwey-led executive.
At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, counsel to the plaintiffs, Onyia, told the court that his clients had filed a motion to stop the election as planned by Igariwey’s executive.
Onyia said the respondents lacked the constitutional right to conduct the election because their tenure expired on January 13, 2015.
The lawyer added that the process was served on them on December 22.
But counsel to the respondents, Ikenyi, told the court that he was just briefed about the matter the previous day, adding that he had not responded to the process.
Ikenyi asked for an adjournment to enable him respond to the process on the grounds that his time was still running.
The court, presided over by Justice A. O. Onovo, adjourned the matter till March 1 for hearing.
Some of the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs included A declaration that the term of office of the first defendant’s executive committee of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo expired on January 13, 2015.
“That a declaration that the continuation in office of the executive of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo led by the first defendant as president-general is contrary to the provisions of the constitution of the organisation and unlawful.
“That order restraining the defendants from further usurpation of the powers and functions of the executive of the organisation contrary to its constitution.
“That an order granting that the Igbo ‘Leaders of Thought’, led by Prof. Ben Nwabueze and or Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, organise an election that will elect officers of the organisation nationwide.”