The attention of Abia PDP has been drawn to the purported suspension of Eze Ibom Isii, Eze Kanu Nwa Kanu, one of the traditional rulers on whose purview the crowning of a new Eze Aro falls, following spurious and unverified allegations by a section of the kingmakers loyal to Alex Otti that the process that produced Eze Godwin Kanu Idei Kanu Okoro Oke Nnachi, the recently crowned Eze Aro was compromised.
The Abia PDP finds the suspension of Eze Kanu Nwa Kanu without due process unacceptable, ill-advised, unwarranted and meddlesome on the part of Abia government and it is smack of insensitivity to the sacred stool of Aro kingship.
Historically, the new Eze Aro, after the demise of an immediate past king is by custom chosen through a consensus or democratic process of selection based on the recommendations made by the three ruling families of Aro Kingdom known as the Oke Nnachi families. The three families of Asi Eko Oke Nnachi, Kanu Okoro Oke Nnachi and Oji Okoro Oke Nnachi are required by custom to reach a consensus and produce a candidate to be crowned as Eze and in the failure of a consensus, each of the three ruling families presents a candidate publicly and physically supported by two of his kinsmen for selection of one of them as Eze by the Council of Kingmakers, Umu Amadi through a process.
From reliable information available to the Abia PDP, the current Eze Aro, Eze Godwin Kanu Idei Kanu Okoro Oke Nnachi from the Kanu Okoro Oke Nnachi family is a direct descendant of the first monarch of Aro Kingdom, Eze Kanu Okoro, was duly recommended by his family Otusi Okennachi and was selected after a thorough and painstaking process before he was presented to Eze Ibom Isii, Eze Kanu Nwa Kanu for Crowning.
The choosing of Eze Aro by Umu Otusi Okennachi Royal Family:
Qualification:
1:He must be the first son of that family that the father has joined his ancestors and was buried traditionally.A second son can never be an Eze Aro while the elder one and the father are still living.
2: He must be of a good character
and self contented.
3: He will be presented to Ibom isii for by Umu Otusi Okennachi for crowning with the traditional requirements met.After that he will be taken to Eze Eze Agwu and Okwara Agwu for acceptance with White chalk and a gun salute. He will then return to Ibom Isii for a royal procession led by Ekpe Aro to Amaikpe where the blood of Osim Nnubi (the commander of the war) was dropped at Amaikpe obinkita.They will then escort him to Oror at Ukwu Ofor (where Osim was buried) before going into the palace. The crown is only for one person who is traditionally qualified as Eze Godwin Kanu Idei Kanu Okoro Oke who has been crowned the Eze Aro the 9th of Arochukwu.
It is therefore,surprising that Alex Otti would take sides in such a sensitive matter by directing his Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Uzor Nwachukwu to hastily slam a suspension on Eze Kanu Nwa Kanu without investigation, query or summon for clarifications.
This action of Abia government under Alex Otti’s watch among many has become flagrantly abusive in not following due process in the conduct of government business. A few days after he took office, Alex Otti summarily suspended all the Permanent Secretaries in the Abia State Civil Service without query and salaries as demanded by Civil Service rules and sacked them from office after more than 100 days in suspension without telling them what their offences were.
The easy resort to suspension and sacking of public servants without due process is unbecoming of a government that took an oath to defend and protect the rights and welfare of citizens and a trademark of Alex Otti’s authoritarianism which Abians now contend with each passing day.
Worse still, the interference and meddling in the sacred traditional stool of kingship of Aro is itself an invitation to anarchy in the Kingdom that bears historical artifacts of Igbo land and the Black race in general.
As a measure to restore confidence in the traditional institution of kingship in Aro and Abia State, the Abia PDP demands of Alex Otti to immediately reverse the ill-advised suspension of Eze Ibom Isii, Eze Kanu Nwa Kanu and take steps to ensure that the peace in Aro Kingdom that has been shaken due to the undue interference is restored immediately.
The Abia PDP calls on the good people of Aro Kingdom to remain calm, peaceful and law abiding as we await and expect Alex Otti and his government to rescind the suspension of Eze Kanu Nwa Kanu.
PDP – Power to the people!
Secretary
Hon. Elder AbrahaSecretary
Abia PDP Vice Chairman / Acting State Publicity Secretary
