CAC cancels registration of new Ohanaeze Ndigbo

Tue, Jun 30, 2020
By publisher
3 MIN READ

Featured, Politics

By Anayo Ezugwu

THE Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, has withdrawn the certificate of registration issued to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly. The commission said the conditions for the issuance of the certificate have not been fully fulfilled.

In a statement made available to Realnews on Monday, June 29, CAC advised the trustees of the association to return the certificate to the commission.  “This is to inform the general public that the certificate of registration No. IT 144918 issued inadvertently to the Trustees of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly, has been withdrawn by the Corporate Affairs Commission.

“The Trustees of the association have been advised to return the said certificate to the commission as the same has been canceled. The conditions for the issuance of the certificate have not been fully fulfilled,” it said.

Realnews recalled that a new Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly was reported to have been registered with the CAC and purportedly taken over the leadership of the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation. Nkeli Nzekwe, the traditional ruler of Igbariam in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Sunday, June 28 inaugurated the new group in his palace as its Board of Trustees chairman.

He said the purport of the new order was that the Igbo group had become a legal personality that could sue and be sued and no longer a self-serving platform. Nzekwe said henceforth the new leadership would pilot the affairs of the Igbo worldwide to the exclusion of anybody on the saddle before the incorporation of the group.

“Today, I welcome the newly inaugurated members of the National Executive Council of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide led by Basil Onyeachonam. As the Chairman Board of Trustees of the organization, I call on Ndigbo all over the world to join hands together and make Ohanaeze Ndigbo great again.

“I’m one of the founding members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 1976. After the Nigerian civil war, I and some Igbo patriots came together to discuss the way forward for Ndigbo with the good intention to unite Ndigbo under a common umbrella body. This initiative was much welcomed by our people, considering the maximum displacement of Ndigbo during the war and its aftermath. Our principal aim then was specifically to unite Ndigbo and speak with one voice.

“It was unfortunate that the organisation later lost its principal focus and degenerated to a political tool in the hands of some greedy politicians, which created room to the formation of several Igbo organisations, due to lack of confidence in the affairs of Ohanaeze.

“On the 25th of November 2019, some notable Igbo stakeholders visited my palace to discuss the way forward on how to restructure Ohanaeze Ndigbo and give it a corporate legal status instead of merely existing as a pressure group and a political tool in the hands of few individuals,” he said.

Nzekwe said throughout the 44 years of the existence of the Igbo Apex group, it was not registered at the CAC nor recognised by notable International bodies as a corporate personality. ”I am glad to announce to the general public today, Sunday, that Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly is now registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission with the RC NO: 144918, under the present leadership of Barrister Basil Onyeachonam as the President General. The organisation today is recognised by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

– Jun. 30, 2020 @ 13:49 GMT |

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