by Obinna Akukwe
The traditional ruler of Igbariam and Chairman Board of Trustees of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly, HRM Eze DR Kelly Nkeli Nzekwe, has said that the parallel Ohanaeze is unstoppable.
Speaking with the Director General of Igbo Mandate Congress IMC, Rev Obinna Akukwe at Awka, the monarch said that there is no going back on the newly registered Ohanaeze. When reminded by Rev Akukwe that the newly registered group has been disowned and deregistered by the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Eze Okalakwu Nkeli Nzekwe said that “there is no way somebody can get a Phd and the university will later withdraw it.
The group we registered cannot be deregistered. Ohanaeze Ndigbo general assembly is not afraid of the CAC and we are carrying on our activities. CAC cannot intimidate us, we have passed that stage”.
When reminded again by Rev Akukwe that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Elders Council, Chiefs Nnia Nwodo and Mbazulike Amechi have dismissed the body as bunch of selfish persons, Igwe Nkeli told the leaders of Igbo Mandate Congress that high level corruption, selfishness and greed is at the root of their registering a new Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
According to the monarch, “it is the deposed Ohanaeze Ndigbo that used Ndigbo to do business. They are busy collecting money from every government and groups while Igbo youths are suffering. They are using Igbos to make money and the records are clear. They have not attracted any meaningful development to Igbo land except sharing money”
Igwe Nkeli said that “Elders cannot stay in the house and a she goat will deliver with umbilical cord. There is no way we can sit by and allow Ndigbo to be used by persons with defined personal agenda. Enough is enough” He Said that the proliferation of Igbo Groups, including IPOB, is as a result of the failure Of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to present Igbo positions properly”.
Igwe Nkeli said that they were called back to Aso Rock last week and met with Buhari and his men and expressed appreciation for the work ongoing at the Second Niger Bridge and Enugu Airport. They also asked President Buhari to decree more projects for Ndigbo so that the levels of unemployment and sufferings in the region will be reduced and the youth put into useful purposes. Igwe Nkeli said that Igboland needs more intervention than we have now.
Igbo Mandate Congress has decried the deplorable state of Ohanaeze Ndigbo National Secretariat in Enugu. In a parley with select church leaders in Awka Monday, 24th August 2020, concerning the viability of Igbo Presidency project, the Director General of Igbo Mandate Congress, Rev Obinna Akukwe condemned the pulling down of the fence of Ohanaeze Secretariate and the exposure of the nakedness of Igbo Headquarters.
According to Rev Akukwe “what I saw in Ohanaeze Ndigbo Secretariat was very deplorable. The walls are pulled down and the place looks unkempt. It is unfortunate that with all the money Ohanaeze collects from politicians, including the N1.2 billion naira shared at Chelsea Hotel, Abuja in December 2014 and another N5billion collected to be shared in Enugu in February 2015, in preparation for polls, the body cannot apportion at least N500 million of the sum to renovate the facility”
He condemned former Governor Rochas Okorocha for not completing the white structure he embarked upon in the secretariat and called for probe of profligacy in the body. Rev Akukwe asked for truce between the members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Chief Nnia Nwodo and the one pioneered by Igwe Nkeli Nzekwe so that the Igbo Presidency Project will not be truncated from within.
Igbo Mandate Congress learnt that the parallel Ohanaeze Ndigbo is led by Igwe Nkeli Nzekwe (Chairman Board of Trustees), Barrister Basil Onyeachonam Onuorah (President General), Barrister Arthur Chukwu (Secretary General) Dikeoha Hon Kingsley Nnalue (Publicity Secretary) and Barrister Emejulu Okpalaukwu (Igbo Security Adviser)
