Media aide of the president-general of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, gives account of what led to the suspension of the organisation’s general secretary

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, an Igbo cultural group, has said the suspension of Iche Okwukwu as the general-secretary of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, was self-inflicted. A press release by the organisation chronicled what led to Okwukwu’s travail.

According to the press statement signed by Emeka Attamah, a special assistant to the president-general on Media and Publicity, contrary to media reports, Okwukwu, was present at all the meetings that culminated in the endorsement by Ohaneze Ndigbo of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi for the forthcoming presidential election. “Though he objected to the endorsement, he was a lone voice as he had no supporter while the remaining majority of twenty-one members of NEC of Ohanaeze voted for the adoption. Therefore, while the minority may have his say, the majority in any democracy must have their way and that was what happened,” the statement said.

At the Imeobi meeting which the suspended secretary-general also attended, “Okwukwu neither raised his finger nor his voice to object to the unanimous decision taken to ratify the NEC position.” Thus, the Imeobi, which made up of prominent sons and daughters of Igboland, including past governors, ministers, commissioners, retired and serving top civil servants, the academia, business men among others, also endorsed the decision.

“To the utter consternation of other members of the National Executive Committee, Okwukwu was copiously quoted in the press and social media as berating the NEC and Imeobi for purportedly endorsing Atiku/Obi ticket in a kangaroo Imeobi session and went further to tacitly endorse President Buhari at a rally in Aba contrary to the declared stand of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide,” Attamah said.

He said the NEC then allowed some days for him to retract the stories about him but none was forthcoming. Hence, the NEC convened an emergency meeting in which 20 out of a 21- man committee, two being away on health grounds and Okwukwu, refusing to show up at the start of the meeting.

“After much discussion and on the verge of taking a decision on him, Mr Okwukwu stormed the national secretariat with a convoy of about thirty heavily armed policemen in many hilux vehicles.

“Being the first time such would happen, this naturally created tension, except on Nnia Nwodo, the president-general, whose mien didn’t change but maintained his calm and calculated disposition and continued with the meeting as if nothing had happened.

“Several questions such as if the Imeobi meeting held, if a quorum was formed, if there was any adoption made, whether it was unanimous or not, if he objected to the resolution and if he said the Imeobi was kangaroo were thrown at him.

“He was also asked if he alleged that 300 million naira was given to the president-general to facilitate the endorsement, if he was planning to form a parallel Ohanaeze Ndigbo, if he was planning to take some people to the State House to see and endorse Mr President, if he had endorsed President Buhari on behalf of Ohanaeze in Aba.

“To all these questions, he answered in the negative.

“Furthermore, Okwukwu was asked since he did not circulate invitation for the meeting, how did he come to be present at the meeting?

“Finally, was there any difference between what was agreed upon at the Imeobi, with him present and what was put out in the communiqué, and he said none,” Attamah disclosed.

The SA media said it was at this point that Nwodo asked Okwukwu to leave the meeting hall to allow members make their contributions and arrive at a decision on him but he refused to budge.

Okwukwu refused to leave and that it took the sagely intervention of Chuks Muomah, SAN, the national legal adviser, for him to reluctantly exit.

Attamah said it was then that the meeting decided on that Thursday, January 31, 2019, the secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo should go on suspension forthwith and his membership of all organs of Ohanaeze Ndigbo was also suspended.

Besides, that having personally attended the meeting and denied all allegations against him, Okwukwu was given seven days to publicly retract and publish same in the mass media, otherwise the matter would be referred to a Disciplinary Committee for further inquiries and appropriate action and subsequent referral to the Imeobi for a final decision.

In addition, the meeting asked every member of the Ohanaeze, branches and affiliate bodies, to take note and desist from dealing with Okwukwu as the secretary-general of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide forthwith.

That notwithstanding, the organisation refuted the allegation that Nwodo had been suspended. Attamah’s statement: “It is therefore preposterous that Mr Okwukwu is going around spreading gross falsehood that the NEC of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has suspended it’s President General.  There is nowhere in the constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo that provision was made for an individual to suspend anybody unless on the decision of the entire NEC having formed a quorum.”