The Executive chairman of Ivo local government area of Ebonyi State, Chief Emmanuel Ajah and the Amaeze community Chairman Mr. John Okorie has differed over election date, traded blames on attempt to cause crisis and destruction of properties in Ishiagu.
The Voice reports that Amaeze community is endowed with natural resources, hosting numerous investors that deals with Shippings and other minerals that generates millions of naria for the community.
It was gathered that the fight between Ajah and Okorie, ensued when he (Ajah) announced that the Amaeze development Union, ADU’s election will hold on August 12th, 2023, but Okorie opposed it, and insisted that the election must hold on 26th, August, 2023, as allegedly stipulated by the constitution of Amaeze.
Investigation revealed that Ebonyi state High Court of Justice, Ishiaka in Ivo LGA, in a judgement delivered by Iheanacho Chima, on July 2017, in suit No. HAK/20/2016 between Okereke Chinedu Joshua and others verses Uchenna Anyim and others held that election of the Amaeze Development Union, be held on 26th of August, which according to Okorie, the Union has been conducting it’s elections on the said court approved date.
In their sperate reactions, Mr. Ajah who spoke to newsmen in Abakaliki, blamed the outgoing Chairman of Amaeze development Union,, ADU, in Ishiagu of attempt to cause another war, killings and destruction of valuable properties belonging to the innocent citizens of the council area.
Ajah also, denied the alleged claims by Okorie of attempt to hijack the forthcoming ADU’s election: “I don’t have anything against the outgoing Amaeze community Chairman, Mr. Okorie. This man has caused a lot of damages to people in my place. Let me tell you, when he (Okorie) was a Youths President, he caused a crisis that led to the death of some persons.
“The same Okorie came as a chairman of Amaeze community, and no fewer than five (5) persons died in his tenure, when he was trying to have an interim government. Now, he is going out from office and he wants to cause another crisis so that people will die again, that’s why I said no, it’s not possible.
“The problem is that, his (Okorie) tenure as the chairman of Amaeze community will end on 21st of this August 2023, but he wants election to be conducted on 26th, of this August, 2023. I told him (Okorie) that election will hold on 12th of this August, 2023 and by August 21st, he will handover to the new person, but he insisted that election must hold on 26th, I told him (Okorie) that it’s not possible to conduct election on 26th, when his tenure had expired on 21st.
He berated the outgoing Amaeze community Chairman Mr. Okorie for staging the arrest of the committee chairman on Peace and Conflict Resolution, Ivo LGA, Mr. Orji Elijah Okechukwu, and dragging him (Ajah) before the commissioner of police, department of state services, DSS, and the State government.
In a swift reaction, the Amaeze community Chairman, Mr John Okorie said that the council chairman Emmanuel Ajah has no such right to interfer with the community’s election and can’t fix a date of election for them.
Okorie who reacted through his brother, Gilbert Okorie noted that Amaeze community has a valid constitution that regulates the conduct of it’s elections and requires no external influence to conduct election.
According to Okorie: “the chairman of Ivo LGA, Emmanuel Ajah has no right to conduct election for Amaeze development Union, ADU. It is not part of the duties of Ivo LGA chairman. Amaeze has a constitution and there is no crisis in it now, except the one the chairman, Ajah is trying to bring now. Article 7 of the Amaeze constitution stipulates, how elections should be conducted and we have been doing that.
“At the moment, there is no crisis or any problem, except that the chairman, Ajah has been going about since May 2023, boasting that he will install his preferred candidate as chairman of Amaeze community, and he (Ajah) is from another community called Ihie, and not even from Amaeze ward. What is his business coming to conduct election for Amaeze?” He stressed.
Reacting on the alleged killings of some persons in Amaeze, Okorie said: “what ordacity does he (Ajah) have to be attributing crisis that people died in, it was the same imposition that he (Ajah) is trying to bring into Amaeze now, was the same imposition they did in 2021 that caused the crisis that claimed the lives of three (3) people” he stated.
The Voice reports that, no fewer than four (4) persons including two (2) brothers; Onyekachi Nweni and Ogbonna Nweni, and two (2) others; Christian Okonta and Uchenna Okereke, are currently contesting the ADU’s election to takeover from John Okorie.
Meanwhile, The governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, through the commissioner of local government and Chieftaincy matters has waded into the crisis, and however, summoned the council chairman Ajah and Okorie, including their supporters to appear before him, as away to resolve the differences in the date of the ADU election.
“It has come to the knowledge of Ebonyi State Government of the crisis being generated by the conflicting dates of (either 12th or 26thAugust, 2023) election into the Executive Committee of Amaeze Ishiagu Development Union. With the consensus agreement that the election holds on this August, either of the dates should not cause problem” he stated.
