The crisis rocking the Ohanaeze Ndigbo took a turn for the worst on Sunday as the Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, and the Women Wing of the group have announced the suspension of the President-General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo.
This came seven days after the groups passed a vote of no confidence on the Nwodo-led Ohanaeze.
Nwodo’s loyalists had fired back immediately, calling the bluff of the youth and the women groups, whose tenures they said had ended a year ago.
But in a statement jointly signed by leaders of the two wings, after their meeting, and emailed to DAILY POST, they said Nwodo had now been suspended for refusing to appear before a disciplinary committee set up to investigate allegations against his leadership.
It was signed by Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, President, Ohanaeze Youth Wing, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, Secretary General, Ohanaeze Youth Wing, Engr Obinna Adibe, National PRO, Ohanaeze Youth wing and Chief Hon. (Mrs) Calista N. Adimachukwu, President General, Ohanaeze Igbo Women Organisation.
The statement read: “With the 7-Day ultimatum given to the embattled President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Dr. Nnia Nwodo, having expired, and having had him instead of clearing his sullen hands from the weighty allegations of highhandedness and turning Ohanaeze Ndigbo into a political appendage party for those that could pay and pick his greedy bills – the main issue why he was asked to clear his names, to start ordering for termination of leadership and calling for elections into the Youth and women wings for querying him for his gross antisocial behaviours;
“We, the well meaning and rightly focused Ohanaeze Youth Wing, OYW, under the President General, Mazi Okechukwu Isisguzoro, having earlier-on reaffirmed our confidence in our present Executives, hereby, in a joint meeting with Ohanaeze Ndigbo Women Wing, therefore, we will no longer have Dr. Nnia Nwodo to continue doing his businesses with Igbo identity and political interests, and hereby arrive at the following decisions, as advised by the 7-man Investigation committee that Nnia Nwodo failed to appear before, to clear his names:
“That, we the Ohanaeze Youth Wing, OYW and Ohanaeze Women Wing had for so long tolerated the shameful and debased politics of Chief Nnia Nwodo led Ohanaeze Ndigbo, while he sidelines the various organs of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, including Ime Obi and his 24 – man led EXCOS that are there to represent their various localities and States and having relegated them to the backgrounds to getting little or no attention from their respective state, socio-cultural and political constituencies; and charters of offices and demands.
“We hereby find Nwodo loathsome and guilty of anti-Igbo politicking and badly moneyed-Igbo polity killer-character that in the first circumstance had no role for political and social services not just Ndigbo’s. Having failed to appear before the 7-man panel to clear himself of all the weighty gross breaches of office and constitution of Ohanaaeze Ndigbo, we take the Investigative Panel’s submission that by so doing he seems to have nothing to deny the wrongs as catalogued against him by Ohanaeze Youth Wing; Chief Nnia Nwodo is hereby suspended and should not be seen around Ohanaeze Ndigbo secretariat nor operate by proxy! He remains suspended!
“Holding vital evidences on how he has been collecting and hunting for monies at the expense of the Igbo nation, Biafra and Nigeria plights, from one government house to another and as well with Nwodo been at the becks and calls of the money-bags/politicians doing errand boy Ohanaeze Presidency. Nwodo remains suspended!
“That Nnia Nwodo occupies the vintage Ohanaeze Ndigbo presidency and still talking from both sides of his mouth to soiling the preeminent Ohanaeze concept, not just Ohanaeze Ndigbo, leading to our earlier calls for him to give accounts of his stewardship but he, instead of taking the ample opportunity to clear his mess, took to media charades announcing that Ohanaeze Youth and Women wings, were long suspended and there would be elections for the new leadership to pilot their affairs. Nwodo, remains suspended!
“Assuming without conceding that there are no functional Ohanaeze Youth and Women wings while we have Nwodo’s almighty Ohanaeze Ndigbo as made known to the media by the non-functional, but now politically romanced and activated, Secretary General Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Uche Okwukwu, whose names have been missing in Ohanaeze records of Secretary general duties courtesy of Nwodo, to now alleging that Ohanaeze Youth Wing and Women wing have respectively ceased to exist nor have leadership since 2016 and 2017, is a bad tale in their mouth. Nwodo remains suspended!
“That Nwodo’s Ohanaeze Ndigbo are now calling for elections in both Ohanaeze Youth and Women wings, with promises of selling forms to gullible aspirants is another political mischief showing gross case of maladministration and intolerance of opposing views with the sole intent to dismember the youth and women wings, more. While this remains condemnable, we shall resist this Nwodo’s sham with the last drops of our bloods till Ohanaeze Ndigbo is rescued and reorganized with a National Acting Steering Committee in-charge and we call upon the Igbo leaders of thoughts, especially the mature minds and notable Ime Obi, Ohanaeze leaders namely Prof Ben Nwabueze, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, Prof Amuche Azi, Dr. Kate Onwe, Chief Ralph Obiaoha, Chief Obi Nwaka, Engr. Isaac Wowu, Richard Ozobu, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu to come to Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s rescue.
“That Nnia Nwodo speaks from both sides of his mouth while at the same time claiming to represent the pan social ideals of Ohanaeze, leading to Ohanaeze Ndigbo organizational frameworks, is verily worrisome and too poor expected of any person that occupies such vintage post of Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership. That Nwodo speaks differently in different foras on Igbo politics, Biafra restoration and inequalities in Nigerian nationality to now conscripted himself “minister of restructuring” without consulting his Igbo people because a Northeast presidential aspirant now picks his bills and any Igbo not thinking in the same direction with him is in his Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s Black book. This has been the plight of the Ohanaeze youth and women wings. For this, Nwodo remains suspended and ceases to represent Ohanaeze Ndgbo and Igbo nation in any capacity!
“Having had him instead of responding to the weighty allegations of shortchanging Igbo nation and running Ohanaeze Ndigbo as a generalissimo to even messing up the Igbo nation saying that he has been comfortable without Ohanaeze youth and women wings to even attempting the impossible throwing the youths and women into a disarray, saying they do not exist nor have a leadership, we the youth and Women Wings in this joint meeting hereby disassociate ourselves from whatever Chief Nnia Nwodo is doing, be it his sham Ohanaeze presidency or call for change of leadership.
“He is no longer to us President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and we bid every other Igbo national to so consider him same for he is no longer the president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and he stands suspended and by extension, his political brigade-boys, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Executives till peace and mutual respects for institutional order, measures and respects is returned to Ohanaeze Ndigbo.”
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