Igbo think tank Aka Ikenga has dismissed moves by some aggrieved elders to forcibly take over the leadership of the Igbo apex group. Aka Ikenga in a statement mailed to News Express yesterday lambasted the coupists, describing them as disgruntled men who are bent on disuniting Ndigbo for pecuniary benefits.

First Republic Minister of Transport, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, who claims to be Chairman of Ohanaeze Council of Elders, had on Thursday in Enugu inaugurated a 23-member Caretaker Committee to run Ohanaeze Ndigbo, claiming that the tenure of the executive led by Gary Enwo-Igariwey expired on January 12 after its two-year tenure.

Aka Ikenga in the statement signed by its President General, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, however dismissed the action of the “86-year-old self-styled Chairman of Elders Council” of Ohanaeze and his co-conspirators as baseless and futile.

Aka Ikenga, one of the pillars of Ohanaeze, decalred: “For the avoidance of doubt, we have one and indivisible organisation for Ndigbo wherever they are. It is called Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The President General is from Ebonyi State and his name is Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey. We have Deputy Presidents Chief Onyia (Delta) and Onyema (Enugu). The Secretary General is Dr Joe Nwaorgu (Imo). We have other officers. The tenure of the present executive is four years and it has only gone half way. The President General is also the Chairman of the Ohanaeze Council of Elders, Ime Obi and General Assembly.

“The next President General of Ohanaeze will emerge in 2017 and will come only from Enugu State. The structure and tenure of office did not arise from the whims and caprices of some people whose only qualification is that they are in their 80s. We have a well organised system but from time to time some hirelings try to cause confusion among Ndigbo. Be it known that Ndigbo know their leaders. They did not arise from parochial, esoteric and nocturnal gathering of men who turn left or right as the occasion demands. To all those agents of disunity, we say enough is enough. The EXCO of Ohanaeze has members from all the States and they emerge in the alphabetical order of their states.

“Ohanaeze is too precious to be a political tool. It is the organ of Ndigbo and must be so respected. If anyone has a grievance, let that person attend the next general meeting to table it. Attempts have been made six years and two years ago by some of the present dramatis personae to hijack Ohanaeze. They came to naught. So will this one.”

•Photo shows Ohanaeze President General, Gary Enwo-Igariwey.

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