By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The leadership crisis rocking the Amichi Development Union (ADU) in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State has taken another turn, with seven members out of the Union’s 11-member elected executive submitting their handover notes to the Registered Trustees.
Meanwhile, the Trustees have also snubbed a meeting notice reportedly issued by the former President-General of the community, Chief Cletus Udebuani.
Reports have it that prior to Chief Udebuani’s tenure expiration on August 6, a High Court sitting in Nnewi, had on July 21, issued an order restraining him from acting as or parading himself as the President-General of the community. This reportedly stemmed from a lingering legal battle in Suit No. HN/215/2022, which trailed the 2022 Town Union election held in the community.
However, barely hours to the expiration of Udebuani’s tenure, reports have it that a letter was issued to him by the Anambra State Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Town Union Affairs, Mr. Ifeanyi Ezeaka, purporting to extend his tenure as President-General until the next adjourned court date for the case in 2027.
The development, which has continued to ignite controversy and reactions among stakeholders, has now been followed by a move by seven of the 11 elected executive members to formally hand over their responsibilities to the Registered Trustees of the Union.
The seven officials, according to information made available on the development, include the Second Vice-President, Third Vice-President, Assistant National Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer, Assistant Public Relations Officer, and Chief Welfare Officer of the Union.
The executives reportedly submitted their handwritten handover notes in separate communications dated August 10 and 15, respectively, effectively placing their positions and responsibilities before the Board of Trustees amid the uncertainty surrounding the leadership of the union.
Their action is coming against the backdrop of the position being canvassed by the Trustees and some concerned members of the community who insist that Udebuani’s four-year tenure ended on August 6 and that the subsequent letter from the Commissioner could not, in their view, confer a fresh tenure on him.
The July 21 court order, made by Justice Dennis C. Maduechesi in Suit No. HN/215/2022, had directed the parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the motions before the court.
The order specifically restrained the plaintiffs and Udebuani, who was listed as the third defendant, from assuming or occupying the office of President-General of Amichi Town Union. It also barred the Incorporated Trustees of Amichi Development Union/Association and any other person from conducting an election into the office pending the determination of the preliminary objection and motion for interlocutory injunction.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to March 9, 2027.
The legal dispute itself arose from the 2022 Amichi Development Union election, with Chukwuemeka Udogu, Chief Donatus Nzekwe, Chief Francis Onyeuno, Okpala Descendants Union-Amichi and Chief Obijiofor Ume-Ezeoke listed among the plaintiffs in the suit.
The controversy surrounding the interpretation and effect of the court order has since become intertwined with the question of what happens to the leadership of the union following the expiration of Udebuani’s tenure.
While the Commissioner’s letter reportedly sought to keep Udebuani in office until the next court date, the Registered Trustees and their supporters have maintained that the union’s constitution provides for a four-year tenure for the President-General and does not provide for an extension or holdover arrangement.
They have further argued that the constitutional framework provides a mechanism for dealing with a leadership vacuum or crisis and that the Trustees should be allowed to assume responsibility for the affairs of the union pending a lawful resolution of the dispute.
The disagreement has also produced competing meeting notices, further exposing the depth of the division within the community.
Udebuani had issued a notice for a meeting initially understood to involve a wider group of stakeholders, but the notice was subsequently narrowed to the elected executives and members of the Board of Trustees.
The meeting was fixed for Wednesday, August 19, at the Amichi Town Hall, at 12 noon, with a notice stating that no other persons would be allowed to participate.
However, the Registered Trustees have rejected the notice, pointing to Udebuani’s status as a former President-General and the subsisting court order.
In a separate communication addressed to Udebuani as “Former President General” of the Amichi Development Union, the Trustees reminded him that his tenure had expired on August 6.
They also referred to the July 21 order of the Nnewi High Court, warning that the court’s directive restrained him from parading himself as President-General of the union.
The Trustees consequently stated that they would not be parties to what they regarded as a contemptuous conduct.
Rather than recognise the meeting notice issued in Udebuani’s name as President-General, the Board of Trustees has fixed its own meeting for Thursday, August 20, at 10am at the Amichi Town Hall.
The agenda of the Trustees’ meeting includes deliberation on the handover notes received from some of the immediate-past officers of the Union, consideration of what the Board described as the illegal development at Eke Amichi Market, charting a way forward for the community and other matters.
The notice, signed by the Acting Chairman of the Registered Trustees, Chief Silvester Umeaku; the Secretary, Mr. Christian Nzewi; and Chief Dr. Eric Umeofia, was circulated to key community stakeholders.
The Trustees have also written separately to Udebuani over the Amichi New Modern Eke Market, questioning the alleged development and leasing of portions of the market without the consent of the Trustees.
The development has consequently added another dimension to the already complicated leadership dispute, with the Trustees seeking to address not only the question of who is legally entitled to function as President-General, but also the management of the union’s properties and affairs during the period of uncertainty.
Interestingly, despite rejecting the meeting notice issued by Udebuani as President-General, the Trustees have continued to engage him in an effort to resolve the crisis.
According to information on the development, Udebuani had initially declined an invitation from the Board but later contacted the Acting Chairman on Sunday, August 16, requesting a meeting. The Board reportedly welcomed the request and scheduled an engagement with him for Wednesday, August 19.
The meeting is expected to take place against the backdrop of another scheduled engagement between the Trustees and Commissioner Ezeaka on Tuesday, August 18.
The meeting with the Commissioner followed an earlier engagement on Friday, August 14, when members of the Board reportedly met with him to discuss the controversy generated by his letter to Udebuani.
According to the Acting Chairman of the Board, Chief Silvester Umeaku, the Commissioner acknowledged during the meeting that the letter had been issued without a full examination of the facts and legal issues surrounding the Amichi dispute.
The Commissioner was subsequently said to have directed the Trustees to submit relevant documents for further review ahead of the August 18 meeting.
While arguing that the Commissioner’s intervention and his letter of tenure extension to the ex-PG have created further uncertainty than resolving the matter; the concerned stakeholders have therefore appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to intervene and ensure that all actions taken in the matter are guided by the ADU constitution, the subsisting court order and applicable laws.
They also harped on the urgent need the for Registered Trustees to assume the management of the union pending the resolution of the crisis and the eventual conduct of a fresh election when permitted by the court.
Meanwhile, the Ochendo Amichi, Chief Simon N. Okeke, has also reportedly distanced himself from reports suggesting that he endorsed the extension of Udebuani’s tenure.
Okeke said he had contacted Commissioner Ezeaka to ascertain whether he had received a copy of the July 21 court order.
According to him, the Commissioner initially confirmed receipt of the order but said he had not studied it. Okeke said the Commissioner later told him, after reviewing the document, that a caretaker arrangement appeared to be the only option, and that he would send a memo to the Governor to that effect.
As the various meetings draw closer, speculations abound that the submission of handover notes by seven elected officials, the Trustees’ rejection of the former President-General’s meeting notice and the Board’s decision to convene its own meeting have further widened the leadership divide.
Expectations are also high that the outcome of these proposed engagements would prove significant in determining the direction of the protracted Amichi leadership crisis, particularly as stakeholders continue to grapple with the competing interpretations of the court order, the union’s constitution and the Commissioner’s controversial tenure-extension letter.
