“It is now left to see how the government intends to manage the situation given the flared nerves, ruffled feathers, and bruised egos.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu
After weeks of unabated controversy over the suspension of Igwe Neni, the government of Anambra State has yet again responded, leading to another round of debate. The press release on what actually transpired between the government and the monarchs during their meeting on January 22nd has left many confused or at least lost in some sense. When the news that the governor had sacked Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe as the Chairman of Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council – ASTRC, broke in the evening of the 22 nd of January, the government’s only response was that the news should be ignored because it was “fake news”. This response came in some media reports in which the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Tony-collins Nwabunwanne, was said to have dismissed the news as “fake news.” Later, other government appointees kept dismissing the news as fake in entirety.
But, nearly 24 hours later, the government in a statement signed by Christian Aburime, Governor Soludo’s press secretary, showed a detailed explanation narrating what transpired from the government’s perspective, during the meeting with Anambra monarchs and how eventually, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, ceased to be the Chairman of ASTRC, because of two requirements of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Law 2020, which has been breached.
In the 8th paragraph of the government’s press release, the statement reads; “in the cause of the discussion that followed, it was observed that the body operating as the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council as constituted was unknown to the law as the State Government has observed that the body was improperly constituted in violation of the provision of section 2 (F) of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers (Amendment) Law, 2020…. The provision of the law mandates that the Traditional Rulers Council shall be constituted with not more than 36 members… The body currently acting as the Traditional Rulers Council is composed of 52 persons in utter violation of the law.” The other basis for the dissolution of the Traditional Rulers Council was that “Section 30 of the Traditional Rulers Law 2007 and 2020 as amended provides that each member shall be appointed to the council for a term of four (4) years only and shall be eligible for appointment for another term of four years and no further term.” The implication, the statement reads, is that “the said body as presently constituted have held their positions beyond eight years limit in violation of the law.”
Now, from every imaginable point of view, sacked, removed, relieved or even wilfully stepped down, in the final analysis, the State Government has dissolved the Traditional Rulers Council in Anambra State and therefore, His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe is no longer the Chairman of ASTRC. This can be adjudged as a calculated onslaught on Igwe Achebe, for his letter was considered highly damaging to the government. In this instance, the provisions of the State law are only mere smokescreen that gives the government’s action legitimacy. This is plausible considering that Governor Soludo has been governor for almost two years. In that period, the government has never cared about the position of the law in regards to ASTRC, or so it seems. In his letter, Igwe Achebe recalled how the governor reached out to him on two occasions regarding the ASTRC and later didn’t get back to him and when he tried to reach him (the governor), he could not. Therefore, if the governor intended to ensure that the State law is followed on its merit in ASTRC, he would not have waited this long, he would have addressed this issue as at then. Even more, the relevant state law was always there but never invoked until days after Igwe Achebe’s letter. It would appear that there is a direct correlation between the letter from Igwe Achebe and the dissolution of ASTRC. Based on that, the government’s interest in implementing the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Law is tailored towards serving the definite purpose of edging out Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, as the Chairman of ASTRC.
However, these presumptions as logical, factual, and real as they are, do not remove the legality of the government’s position. In other words, the government’s action is rooted in the provisions of the relevant State Law. Indeed, the press statement by the government might be one of the best attempts of Soludo’s government to deliberately stay out of controversy. The communication was tactful and the government deployed semantics to a telling effect, in explaining its position. Before now, the character of the government in public communications of this nature is to make categorical statements of the magnitude to the effect of “take it” or “leave it” and then, they swing into combat mood; often as blunt, colorless and tactless as that. In this case, the government response was different.
Although the government is still accused of “sacking” Obi of Onitsha as the Chairman of ASTRC and rightly so, the legal base of that action as well as the carefully chosen words in the government’s press statement has left a better impression. It is now left to see how the government intends to manage the situation given the flared nerves, ruffled feathers, and bruised egos.
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