By Chinyere Anyanwu
The Council of Chiefs of Ohaneze Ndigbo Lagos chapter has restated its unalloyed allegiance to the currently running leadership of the President of the group, Chief Sunday Ossai.
This is even as members of the Council of Chiefs of the Lagos State chapter of the socio-cultural group debunked rumours making the rounds that it has two factions.
Speaking during a press conference in Lagos recently, the incumbent President of Ohaneze Ndigbo Lagos, Chief Sunday Ossai, insisted that he is the authentic and duely elected president of the apex group in Lagos.
Chief Ossai emphasised that, “Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the president general of Ohaneze Ndigbo worldwide, has made two visits to Lagos. During his first visit, he told us that he came categorically to declare that I am the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos. During his second visit also, he still made it clear that the electoral council had confirmed to him that I am the product of a peaceful, transparent and fair election.”
Chief Ossai further said that Chief Iwuanyanwu stated that, “he has no capacity to change or remove me and that I remain the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos and he admonished everybody to support me in my leadership to the end of my tenure.”
Lending his voice to the authenticity of Chief Ossai’s presidency, the Eze Ndigbo of Ikosi Isheri LCDA, who is also the Secretary General, Council of Ndi Eze, Lagos State, Eze Remy Anyamele, debunked claims that there are two presidents of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos.
Eze Anyamele declared that Chief Ossai is the, “authentic and chosen president of Ohaneze Ndigbo Lagos State and there is no contention about that because before he became president, there was a free, fair and credible election.”
He added: “Solomon is an erstwhile Igbo leader in Lagos. The present leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos is Chief Ossai and that is where we stand. We will continue to follow and support him until his tenure is over.”
Another voice authenticating the leadership of Chief Ossai as well as debunking the existence of two factions of the group in Lagos during the media parley was that of Chief Mike Orji, the Ohaneze Ndigbo Lagos State Chairman of Chairmen.
According to Chief Orji, “it is very laughable for anybody to think there are two factions of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos. Solomon Ogbonna was president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos between 2018 and 2022. He has seen off his term. Ohaneze Ndigbo’s constitution, section 8(a) and (b) clearly states that there is no tenure elongation and no second term.”
He queried why Chief Ogbonna would be claiming to be president of Ohaneze Ndigbo Lagos when his name did not feature on the ballot papers during the election that brought in Chief Ossai.
He insisted that, “the president we elected is Chief Sunday Ossai and on him we stand, and we will continue to support him.”
For his part, the Eze Ndigbo of Ejigbo, Eze Nicholas Njoku (Eze ezi okwu bu ndu), said, “like everyone of us, my verdict on the issue is that we stand with Chief Ossai. Chief Ossai is the elected president. Whether he’s the best or worst, we will follow him until his tenure elapses.”
Responding to the issue of the consent judgement got by the former president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos, Chief Solomon Ogbonna, Eze Anyamele queried the authenticity of the document, saying, “when he was president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos, it wasn’t the court that brought him there and now his four years are over, he’s going to get consent judgement. We don’t recognise it and we can’t go by it. We have made our choice and on that choice we stand.”
In his concluding remarks, Chief Ossai stated that, “Solomon did not leave anything for me to inherit. During his tenure, Igbos in Lagos had their worst economic crisis and till date they are not living in harmony with their host community and it’s due to Solomon’s failure.
“Before the end of his tenure he was working alone. He was not working with chairmen of local governments, he was not working with women leaders, he was not working with Ndi Eze.
He noted that Chief Ogbonna’s consent judgement was just a strategy to destabilise his government.
Chief Orji seized the opportunity to appreciate the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Iwuanyanwu, “for standing by the truth, being honest and adhering to the constitution of Ohaneze Ndigbo by insisting that Chief Ossai is the duely elected president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos.”
He described Chief Ogbonna as a distraction; someone who thrives on propaganda, urging the general public to ignore him.