Crisis Hits Ohanaeze as Youth Wing Passes No Confidence Vote on Nwodo

The youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday passed a no-confidence vote on the organisation’s President General Chief John Nnia Nwodo, vowing to obstruct the planned summit on restructuring billed to hold in Enugu.

The youth wing, in a statement issued after its security meeting in Enugu yesterday, and signed by Okechukwu Isiguzoro and Okwu Nnabuike, President General and Secretary General respectively, asked Nwodo to appear before them within seven days.

They vowed that the proposed summit on restructuring being put together by Ohanaeze Ndigbo should be cancelled as they would ensure that it does not take place in any part of Igboland.

In a swift reaction, however, Nwodo dismissed the group as non-existent having been disbanded by his predecessor, Chief Enwo Igariwey.

He said those behind the “socalled youth wing” were merely seeking for attention, adding that his leadership remained intact and would continue with its programmes.

But the youth wing in their statement, accused Nwodo of running the organisation as a private empire without recourse to the constitution. “We hereby passed votes of no confidence on Chief Nnia Nwodo and his Ohanaeze Ndigbo presidency and we give him seven days to appear before the Ohanaeze disciplinary committee to explain and answer for his political infidelity against Igbo and collective humanity,” they said.

The group alleged that Nwodo, against the Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s tradition and constitution, abused his office by paying loyalty to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar immediately after his election on January 10, 2017, and that he has rendered the office of the Secretary General impotent by appointing Director of Administration without Ime Obi’s approval.

He was also accused of closing down the Publicity Department of Ohanaeze, by not giving the department the liberty and that he has failed to audit the accounts of Ohanaeze within the last 12 months, according to the group’s constitution of periodic audit.

They also accused Nwodo of making controversial statements on Biafra openly in Lagos and conspiracy to re-arrest the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu and the factional leader of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSO), Uchenna Madu.