IGWE-IN-COUNCIL
Ogwugwu Ebenebe, Ezeagu L.G.A., Enugu State, Nigeria
Tel: 08171574606, 09112353599Ref No: AKO/IC/RE/09/011/2026 Date: 28th September, 2026
To:The Inspector-General of Police, Force Headquarters, Abuja
The Director-General, Department of State Services (DSS), Headquarters, Abuja
The Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Police Command
The Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Enugu State Command
The Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Aguobu Owa
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Iwollo Oghe Division
All Sons and Daughters of Akama Oghe, Home and Abroad
RE: COMPREHENSIVE REJOINDER TO THE FALSE, MISLEADING AND INFLAMMATORY PUBLICATION OF 27TH SEPTEMBER, 2026 BY MR. CHIDUBEM ANI CONCERNING THE DISSOLUTION OF THE YOUTH ASSEMBLY AND THE CONSTITUTION OF A THREE-MONTH INTERIM YOUTH COMMITTEE
PREAMBLE
The Akama Oghe Town Union (ATU) Constitution is the grundnorm of Akama Oghe: the foundational and supreme law from which every office, organ and authority in the community derives.
It takes precedence over custom, tradition and any rules, regulations or resolutions of the purported Youth Assembly, on which Mr. Chidubem Ani wrongly relies to issue orders and directives.
It is a settled principle that nemo dat quod non habet: no one can give what he does not have. A body with no constitutional standing cannot lawfully depose an office-holder, take over a festival or assume the functions of government.
This Rejoinder is issued pursuant to Article 11 of the ATU Constitution, under which the 2026 Annual Ibono Festival was convoked to run from 27th September to 11th October, 2026.
It responds to the publication of 27th September, 2026 and places the true position on record.
- THE POWERS OF THE ONOWU
The Constitution vests in the Onowu the powers of the Dimeze until a new Dimeze is elected and issued a Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office by the Enugu State Government.
Specifically, Article 10.13 provides:
“Upon Igwe stool falling vacant by death or otherwise, the Prime Minister shall act as the Interim,” read together with Article 10 (Functions of Igwe as Custodian of Culture).
The assertion that the Onowu’s authority lapsed with the passing of the late Igwe is therefore baseless and finds no support in any provision of the Constitution.
- THE YOUTH ASSEMBLY HAS NO CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATION
The ATU Constitution creates no Youth Assembly or Youth Wing. Youth leadership is not an organ of the Constitution; it exists by the recognition and goodwill of the Onowu and the Igwe-in-Council, and will continue to do so unless and until the Constitution is amended.
It follows that the Onowu and the Igwe-in-Council have full discretion to dissolve, reconstitute or replace any youth leadership, including the Assembly headed by Mr. Ani, which has no legal footing under the Constitution.
- GROUNDS FOR THE DISSOLUTION
The Youth Assembly under Mr. Ani was dissolved because, in the course of the events leading to the Ibono Festival, it:
Purported to dethrone the Onowu and to appoint one Sylvester Eze as the new Onowu of Akama Oghe;
Handed money to the Okpoto people at Ugwu Isiokwe as though it were the government of Akama Oghe; and
Announced that it, and not the Ibono Committee and Odozi Obodo, was in charge of the 2026 Ibono Festival.
In civil and military government, such conduct amounts to a coup or treason.
Under Oghe tradition, and in relation to the Ibono Festival, it is Aluu (an abomination).
No traditional authority can be expected to stand by while its office is usurped by those it appointed.
- THE THREE-MONTH INTERIM YOUTH COMMITTEE
On 25th September, 2026, following the formal ending of the Ani-led Youth Assembly, a nine-man Interim Youth Committee led by Nonso Okafor was constituted for a period of three months, expiring on 31st December, 2026.
It is a temporary arrangement and not a substantive one. The instrument was duly signed by the Onowu, Chief Edwin Umeh, and the Secretary to the Igwe-in-Council, Chief Gabriel Ezechi.
What the Onowu and the Council of Chiefs have dissolved remains dissolved.
- AN IGWE-ELECT HAS NO POWER TO RETAIN A DISSOLVED YOUTH WING
An Igwe-elect is not an Igwe. He holds no official authority until the State Government issues him a Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office.
The judgment in Suit No. A/29/2018 delivered on 2nd June, 2026 directed the Town Union to present the Igwe-elect to the Governor.
That presentation is a condition precedent, and it has not taken place.
By Sections 5 and 7 of the Enugu State Traditional Rulers and Autonomous Community Law, 2024, an Igwe-elect who parades himself as Igwe is guilty of impersonation.
The said judgment is presently the subject of an appeal before the Court of Appeal, Enugu. The matter is therefore pending, and no party may act as though the appeal did not exist.Consequently, any purported “retention” of the dissolved Youth Assembly by an Igwe-elect is without legal effect and is null and void.
- PROTOCOL FOR THE OKPOTO RITES
.
We reaffirm paragraph 3 of our Official Notice Ref. No. AKO/IC/IBONO/09/001/2026 of 19th September, 2026: all traditional dues and observances for Okpoto shall follow established tradition, with the Igwe-in-Council handing the Okpoto money to the Umunna that handles Okpoto. - AUTHORSHIP OF THE 27TH SEPTEMBER PUBLICATION
It is our position that the publication of 27th September, 2026 was authored by High Chief Christian Akpata, but was signed “on his behalf” by Mr. Chidubem Ani, so as to shield Chief Akpata from liability for impersonation.
Chief Akpata, having caused Mr. Ani to sign on his behalf, and having not denied doing so, cannot escape responsibility. That arrangement is itself a contravention of the Traditional Rulers’ law.
CONCLUSION
We accordingly urge:
All security agencies to disregard the publication of 27th September, 2026 and to take note that the Onowu and Igwe-in-Council remain the recognised traditional authority;
All sons and daughters of Akama Oghe to respect the Constitution;
The community to support the nine-man Interim Youth Committee and the Ibono Committee, so that the 2026 Ibono Festival is conducted peacefully and in accordance with tradition.
The Onowu and Igwe-in-Council will not hesitate to invoke the appropriate constitutional, traditional and legal remedies against any person who disturbs the peace of the festival.
Signed:
Chief Edwin C. Umeh
Acting Regent/Onowu
Traditional Prime Minister
Chief Gabriel Ezechi
Secretary
Igwe-in-CouncilCc:
Akama Oghe Six Traditional Wards
cc. Hon. Commissioner, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Enugu State
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