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By Madu Obi
Serious tension is mounting in Ifitedunu, Dunukofia local government area of Anambra State as a prominent indigene of the area, Chief Vincent Udobi and the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Town Union Matters, Hon Collins Nwabunwanne, are trading words over who should occupy the office of the President General of the community.
Following the development, which is already adversely affecting economic and social activities in the area, Udobi has asked the Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, to sack the Commissioner, who he described as a virus in his administration.
The problem in the area was traceable to the reinstatement of the President General of the community, Chief Uchenna Nwoye by the state government, a situation Udobi and some people in the area objected to because, according to them, Nwoye was convicted by the court and, therefore, is no longer fit to be the PG in line with the constitution of the town.
Addressing reporters at Ifitedunu yesterday, Udobi warned the governor that the Commissioner, if allowed to continue in office, his in the next governorship election would be uncertain.
He accused the Commissioner of fomenting troubles in virtually every community in the state and refusing to let the governor know the true situation of things.
According to him, the Ifitedunu PG, Nwoye, had since been impeached by the community, alleging that constitutionally, he is no longer qualified to hold any public office.
He said: "Ifitedunu was a peaceful town before Uchenna Nwoye was elected our PG. The election that brought him was not well conducted, which was why some people went to court.
"His tenure has brought disunity in Ifitedunu. Some people have been killed and some injured. When the Commissioner came here, I asked him to remove Nwoye for peace to reign, but he insisted that the man must stay.
"Our people were very angry at the decision and it was his reinstatement that brought over 70% of the problems we are having in Ifitedunu.
"Can you imagine that the Commissioner suspended councillors from Dunukofia because they visited me? The position he is occupying is not for inexperienced person and I want to tell the governor that the Commissioner is causing a lot of problems for him in many communities.
"He doesn't obey court order; he is the Judge, the CP, the AIG, the IGP. I am therefore begging Soludo to save Anambra State from Nwabunwanne's bondage in Ifitedunu.
“The decision to impeach Nwoye as the PG of the community was reached by the entire town and chairmen of five villages namely, Obiezie, Ugbomili ,Akwa, Umualugo and Uguala, after several attempts to draw the Commissioner’s attention to the fact that Nwoye is an ex-convict.”
But reacting to the allegations, the Commissioner lamented that the problem in the community is that one man wants to lord it over everybody and decide who would be the PG.
He said: "As a government, we believe in public interest. When we came on board, almost all communities in the state operated caretaker committees, which was retarding development of the rural communities.
"Some people assumed Lords in their communities and positioned themselves to be kingmakers. What we did was to start reconciling the feuding groups and we were able to create conducive atmosphere that enabled people to select their leaders in line with their constitutions.
"In the case of Ifitedunu, the problem was that one man tried to decide who should be their PG. The constitution of Ifitedunu provides that at least two-thirds of the general assembly will vote out an officer based on the offence he committed. But rather than do that, they removed Nwoye and appointed a PG without following the due process. "
They did not even inform government and we had to call for the constitution of the town and saw that it provided that any officer may be removed before the expiration of his tenure on ground of incompetence, breach of the constitution and conduct unbecoming of the officer, provided that the move is supported by two-thirds of the town union members present in a well constituted meeting.
Government has no personal interest in the Ifitedunu matter. What matters to us is whether due process was followed in removing the PG. "From what is on ground, Nwoye remains the PG until due process is followed to remove him".
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