The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has denied there is a leadership tussle in the apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, following the recent death of its President-General, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
National Publicity Secretary of the group, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, said yesterday (Friday, August 9) in a statement in Enugu that “there is no leadership row or tussle in Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide at present and there is not likely to be one in the near future.”
Insisting that such “speculation by a section of the media is untrue,” Ogbonnia said the group’s National Executive Committee (NEC), “comprising erudite scholars, technocrats and veterans of diverse fields, is already seamlessly carrying out the functions of the umbrella body of the organisation.”
“This is being done seamlessly on a daily basis by the appropriate structures under the administrative competence of the Secretary General, Amb. Okey Emuchay,” the Ohanaeze publicity secretary said.
“Iwuanyanwu passed quietly on July 25 and it is very ill-advised and strange for an Igbo to begin to claim the position of the president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, even when the burial committee for Iwuanyanwu is yet to be constituted,” Ogbonnia stressed.
“There is a letter in circulation that Dr Jackson Omenazu was nominated or selected to replace late Joel Kroham, who until his death was the Deputy President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
“However, such a letter was not made available to the NEC of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.”
Ogbonnia said it would be insensitive of, and inconceivable that, the NEC would adopt Kroham’s replacement based on a mere letter from Rivers State, especially “where many of them were very ambivalent and or skeptical about their Igboness.”
While acknowledging Omenazu’s legitimate right to pursue his interest as the president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo come January, 2025, Ogbonnia advised the aspirant to go about his project without bringing Ohanaeze Ndigbo to disrepute. (NAN)
