BREAKING: Tension, As Okowa Sets To Issue Staff Of Office To ‘Monarch’ Despite Court Injunction

There is apprehension in Amai Kingdom, Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State over moves by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to issue Staff of Office, symbol of authority to one Chief Paul Ifenezuchie, who is embattled in the area despite a court injunction stopping the event.

BigPen Online gathered that the community have been boiling since Tuesday night with aggrieved parties firing gun shots all through the night.

The community is currently enveloped by protest as residents moves to disrupt the ceremony planned for today Wednesday.

A protesting residents during the protest accused Governor Okowa of playing politics with lives of people of the area because of his ambition to retain his seat come 2019.

Our source disclosed that Deputy Governor of Delta state, Barr Kingsley Otuaro, was set to represent Governor Okowa at the event which is already generating fresh crisis in the area.

The source said Otuaro is to move from Igbo-Uku, where he is to perform his constitutional rights of issuing of Staff of Office to the King Elect before travelling to Amai, to perform same function.

BigPen Online was told that Governor Okowa had been intimated through a letters of the existing court injunction stopping the handling of Staff of Office to the said Chief Paul Ifenezuchie.

It was learnt that the matter was deliberated on at the state Executive Council meeting on 12 June, 2018 where prominent indigenes of the area also intimated the state government of the existing court injunction.

The letter signed by Secretary of one of the quarters of Amai Kingdom, Umuekum, Chief Alfred Onyenwosa, and addressed to the Ndokwa Ethnic Nation and Delta state government, said, “This is an obvious injustice to the people of Umuekum Ruling House, who are known to be very peaceful without a single history of community violence.”

Onyenwosa frowned at the decision of the State Executive Council to go ahead with issuing of Staff of Office when Okowa was said to have recently directed that gazetted procedures must be followed in kingship succession.

“Government decision to wrongly back someone who not only lost the Kingship election, but was never duly presented by the appropriate authority (the Onotu Uku, or Ugo ofUmuekum Ruling House) at “Isu Asua” is inconsistent with Governor Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa’s stand that gazetted procedures must be followed in Kingship succession”, the letter read.

The statement warned of the consequences of the action of the state government to muscle the people against their will, saying their action is currently generating tension and accused some politicians in the area of fuelling the crisis.

“The recent interest to bypass truth, tradition and to foist an individual sponsored by inordinate politicians who believe in muscling people can only generate tension.”

“Umuekum Ruling House is therefore alerting all concerned people of Ndokwa ethnic Nation in particular, and Delta State in general on the foregoing development, and to appropriately guide the powers that be to allow status quo to remain pending the full determination of the case in the Court of Law.”

Recalls that a court sitting in Kwale on the 7 of May, 2018 restrained the government from issuing Staff of Office to any party in the dispute pending when the case is decided by the court.

However it was gathered that in the next sitting which was on the May 31, 2018, the counsel representing the state government tried to vacate the injunction, but the trial judge over ruled the request, and the case was fixed to hold on Wednesday 20, and Thursday, 21, of June 2018.