There is palpable tension in Ogbunike Community in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State following the election of a substantive Igwe of the Town.

Confirming the tension is an exparte motion filed by a fraction of the Town seeking to restrain the election of a new Monarch for the Town at Otuocha High Court which is expected to rule on the motion ex parte brought before it by Ndichie Ogbunike led by the Akaeze, the traditional prime minister, to restrain a faction of the Ndichie from taking further steps toward the selection or installation of a new traditional ruler, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit brought before it.

The ex parte motion was filed by a prominent community leader, Chief Anene Osadebe (Akaeze Ogbunike) and six others, suing on behalf of themselves, the Igwe-in-Council, and the people of Ogbunike.

The plaintiffs are seeking to restrain three respondents—Ichie Tochukwu Obiakor, Ichie Nwafor Onyezia, and Mr. Hyacinth Maduka Agudosi—from proceeding with the selection and screening of any aspirant to the Igweship stool.

They accused the respondents of unilaterally publishing a timetable for the selection process, in alleged violation of the community’s 1978 Constitution governing traditional leadership.

According to court filings, the defendants failed to comply with specific provisions of the constitution, particularly Part III, Section 9 (subsections 1–4) and Section 20 (subsections 1a and 3), which outline the procedure for electing a traditional ruler.

The plaintiffs argue that any process not grounded in the constitutional framework is null and void.

“The 1978 Constitution is a binding instrument that regulates traditional leadership in Ogbunike. Any deviation from it is a constitutional infraction and an affront to the collective will of the people,” said plaintiffs’ counsel, Odili Emeka Izuchukwu, in a written address to the court.

According to an affidavit sworn to by the first plaintiff, Chief Anene Osadebe, alongside an affidavit of urgency, the plaintiffs claim that following the demise of the former monarch, HRM John Ositadimma Umenyiora (Ezedioramma I), they assumed interim responsibility as custodians of Ogbunike’s traditions, pending the lawful selection of a new Igwe.

They also alleged that the first defendant is attempting to impose “one of his cronies” as traditional ruler in a process that sidesteps due process, warning that such an action could destabilize the community.

“The first defendant, driven by arrogance and desperation, has floated a timetable for the coronation of a new Igwe without regard for due process or the constitutional rights of the people,” the plaintiffs stated.

The applicants contend that they have demonstrated a legal right and triable issue to justify the interlocutory injunction. They argue that the balance of convenience and risk of irreparable harm weighs in their favour.

The court has slated April 16 for the hearing of the substantive suit.

In his affidavit of urgency, Chief Osadebe—a retired civil servant and traditional Prime Minister of Ogbunike—further accused officials of the Ogbunike Progress Union (OPU) of acting unconstitutionally. “Ogbunike Delegates Conference is the highest organ of governance of the town, and did not mandate the President-General of OPU to conduct any election or selection for a new Igwe for the town.”

The last Delegates Conference mandated the PG to convoke the members of the two factions of Ndichie Ogbunike as a condition precedent to selecting a new Igwe, a task that the PG has not achieved.

He also claimed that the President of the Council of Ndi-Ichie/Ogbuefi has remained in office since 2016, though elected to a 3-year term, allegedly refusing to conduct fresh elections.

According to the plaintiffs, these individuals, in concert with the town’s Progress Union’s Assistant Secretary, described as a “stooge,” are orchestrating the coronation of a pre-selected candidate as Igwe on April 21, 2025, in violation of the community’s constitution and the popular will of the people.

The 1978 Constitution—which came into force on August 14, 1976, and was ratified by representatives of all quarters of the town on November 25, 1978—spells out the procedures for selection and installation of a traditional ruler.

The plaintiffs warn that the planned selection, if not halted, could trigger unrest.

“Unless this honourable court urgently intervenes, the actions of the defendants could lead to unnecessary bloodshed and social disorder in Ogbunike,” the affidavit states.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, a prominent member of Ogbunike community and former Solicitor-General of the Federation, Chief Tochukwu Onwugbufor SAN (Onwa Ogbunike) had urged the governor to direct the president general of Ogbunike Progress Union (OPU) to strictly comply with the Igwe Ogbunike Constitution 1978 in the process of crowning a new Igwe.

“He has to, first of all, start by calling the meeting of the Delegates Conference on whose resolutions he can only act and without which his actions in this regard are void,” he said. In his letter to the governor that was sighted by our reporter, he prayed the governor to intervene in the matter.

“I therefore most humbly request your Excellency to direct your commissioner for Local Government and chieftaincy Matters to desist from further interference in the appointment and selection of the traditional ruler of Ogbunike, whether by phone call or in writing.