Politicians have hijacked Ohanaeze, ex-officio raises alarm

Former Vice President General of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, Chief Enechi Onyia (SAN), over the weekend in Enugu raised the alarm that the organization has been hijacked by politicians who now parades themselves as leaders of the people.

Onyia, while speaking to newsmen, said it would be dangerous for the organization to drift from the aspirations of its founding fathers.

“The constitution of Ohaneze forbade members of political parties from holding elective positions.

“We are not a political party but a cultural organization and would want to see a president general that will protect the interest of all people to give our suffering masses a new look.

“But politicians with their political slogan and tactics have now hijacked Ohanaeze and it no longer looks like a cultural organization,” he said.

Onyia said the crisis rocking the organization was a result of past leaders who enthroned a reign of impunity by acting independent of the constitution of Ohanaeze.

He said that it was sad that the organization had had parallel leadership for more than ten years, adding that the situation had affected human and material development of the area.

Onyia said that Chief Ralph Obioha remained the recognized leader of the interim executive of the organization, adding “as far as we are concerned Ohanaeze election has not held.

“The only recognized leader of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo as we know it today is Chief Ralph Obioha because there is no way we can recognize anyone not elected in line with our constitution.

“We are not after office but credibility and rule of law. We have had leaders who wanted to grease their pockets and aligned with politicians at the federal level while our people suffered.

“We want to put a stop to that because nobody will lead us without our consent,” he said.

Onyia, however, said that the organization was made up of intellectuals and honourable members who were too big to exchange tantrums.

He called on well-meaning sons of the Igbos to wade into the crisis which he said had held the organization down for too long in order to secure the future of the people of the area.

He said that Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo state had done his best to ensure peace and unity in the organization, adding that his effort was derailed by those who never wanted the people to speak as one.

“When in February 2016 it became obvious that the Igbo nation was in disarray, Okorocha invited aggrieved members of the organization and we had an accord,” Onyia said.