The continued post-election crisis rocking Nimo, a community in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, has been laid on the doorstep of the State Commissioner for Local Government and Town Union Affairs, Hon Tony-Collins Nwabunwanne.
The Public Relations Officer of Nimo Elders Forum, Ogbuefi Frederick Awagu, accused the Commissioner of continuing to recognize Engr Dan Anakpe as President General despite a court judgement nullifying his election, reports Jude Atupulazi.
It will be recalled that a Neni High Court had on December 18 last year ruled that the Nimo Town Development Union (NTDU) elections held in January last year were not done according to the town’s constitution and directed the conduct of fresh elections by a caretaker committee.
However the Anakpe group appealed the judgement but failed to obtain a vacation order.
According to Ogbuefi Frederick Awagu, JP, rather than reprimand the Engr Anakpe-led executive for contempt of court, the Commissioner said the judgement had been appealed against and that it was only after a higher court upheld the earlier judgment that he would recognize any other person.
But Awagu has challenged the Commissioner to mandate the other group to produce a vacation order by the court which would absolve them of contempt of court.
He expressed disappointment with the stance of the Commissioner, noting that the situation had led to the other party fomenting trouble in Nimo, as well as ridiculing the traditional ruler of the town.
He referred to a recent incident where the Anakpe group refused to allow the royal father of the town to speak at a funeral ceremony of the wife of a cabinet member, which, he said, nearly led to a brawl.
‘This is a highly provocative act capable of causing a security breach in the town,’ said Awagu, who called on the Governor of Anambra State to wade into the matter and prevail on the Commissioner to do the needful to avert crisis in the town.
Awagu, who wondered why the Commissioner would still be tolerating a group that had been causing trouble in the community, including inviting gunmen to stay at Owa, a land between Nimo and Neni, said if not for the intervention of the state government, following complaints by well-meaning indigenes of the town, the place would have been annexed by the gunmen.
He called on the state government to exercise care in the handling of the Nimo matter and ensure that the court order was obeyed to avert further crisis reminiscent of the one caused by separatist elements masquerading as freedom fighters which threw the entire Southeast into confusion.
When contacted, Commissioner Nwabunwanne insisted that he was only following the practice in his dealings with other communities with similar problems like the one in Nimo, noting that as long as there had been an appeal of the judgement, whether or not a stay of execution of the subsisting judgement was granted, he would await the judgement of the appellate court before taking further action.
