The secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, claims that the pan-Igbo body has submitted Aba State to President Muhammadu Buhari for creation out of Southeast. In this interview, Chief Hon James Ugwu, secretary, Enugu State Committee on Actualisation of Adada State, describes Isiguzoro’s claims as fraudulent, intended to mislead President Buhari and the Igbo nation. The excerpts.
Ohanaeze claims Ndigbo at large have unanimously agreed on the creation of Aba State, and has even submitted the resolution to Mr President. How much of this do you know?
Isiguzoro’s act is fraudulent, biased, and acted to deceive Mr President and the Igbo nation. It is unfortunate that some Nigerians in positions of authority choose to easily become parochial. Mr Isinguzoro has disappointed himself.
That publication is not an Ohanaeze decision. He is working in the interest Aba State where he comes from. Till today, 9th of January, 2022, Ohanaeze has not had an executive meeting since the president spoke. In fact, the National Executive Council of Ohanaeze is billed for 21st of this month. How could such decision be taken even when Ohanaeze has not constituted Ime Obi, which is its highest decision-making body?
Before this current Ohanaeze, there was Chief Nnia Nwodo as president general. Nnia would have hurriedly submitted the name of Adada if he were like Isinguzoro. But Nnia followed the due process. Isinguzoro is less than a year in office, and he has started telling lies.
Tell us the background of this meeting with Mr President.
There was actually a meeting between the leadership of the Southeast and Mr President. The meeting was led by the Southeast Governors’ Forum with other leaders, including Ohanaeze, so it was not even Ohanaeze versus Mr President.
President Buhari actually told them to submit a state for creation. The governors, to the best of my knowledge, asked Ohanaeze to look into it and report back to them. We, as Enugu State Committee on the Actualisation of Adada State in conjunction with the Adada State Movement, made presentations to the committee created by Ohanaeze, alongside Aba State Movement and others. About two weeks after, facts emerged that people behind Aba State creation had embarked on bribing members of the committee to favour them. We got the hint, and petitioned to the then president general of Ohanaeze. We relied on verifiable facts because some committee members rejected the offers, and they confirmed the illegitimate exercise. Some of them are still ready to testify. On our part, it was not that we don’t have what to give, but we are above board.
It came to the knowledge of the committee that we wrote the petition, and it did not submit its the report to the then president general of Ohanaeze whose responsibility it was to transmit to Southeast Governors’ Forum, who would facilitated its onward submission to Mr President. The inducement by Aba State debased the integrity of the committee.
Are you saying that there were no other decisions for the creation of another state in the Southeast upon which Isinguzoro might have relied on?
There is none, except the one held in Imo State. It was a ten-man committee set up by Sen Ifeanyi Ararume, and hosted by former Imo governor Achike Udenwa.
During the meeting, the decision to cast the votes was by members of the National Assembly from Southeast. In the end, Adada scored five, Orashi, three, Aba, two, and Njaba scored one. Thus the Southeast has made its position clear, and nothing has changed since then. What Isinguzoro is talking about is a committee set up by Ohanaeze alone, which was never submitted to the chairman, so it remains stillborn.
What does this portend about the character of Mazi Isinguzoro?
Before people are given any position of authority, we should look at their pedigree, up to the parental level. This is unpardonable. How can he deceive the whole president of Nigeria? Isinguzoro does not deserve to be the secretary of Ohanaeze. I am a member of Ohanaeze. He should be thrown out. The body that met Mr President was led by the Southeast Governors’ Forum, not Ohanaeze. You can see the level of Isinguzoro’s fraud! The regime that set up that committee had elapsed, and the matter equally closed.
How does this conflict with the recent exercise by the National Assembly on state creation in the Southeast?
The National Assembly, whose responsibilities it is to create states, came up with a programme on constitutional amendment, and state creation was on the agenda. Aba State Movement also submitted a request, like every other state movement. It is therefore lawful that every agitator wait for the outcome of that report.
What is your message to Mr President on the way forward?
If Mr President wants to create one state from the Southeast, let him get the report of the National Assembly to guide him to pick the most qualified. I am aware that the National Assembly will soon move towards a referendum which is part of the constitutional amendment. National Assembly should be allowed to conclude the process and submit to Mr President; not Isinguzoro.
If Mr President wants to think about a state that was unanimously agreed upon, let him call for the report of the Ararume Committee. That was the only time Southeast core stakeholders decided on a state to be creation in the region. Adada State won after the voting which was called upon by our National Assembly lawmakers. As at today, there is no change.
