The Deputy Governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, Uzu Okagbue, has accused the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, of attempts to denigrate the traditional and cultural relevance of the Obi of Onitsha stool. Okagbue, who observed that there has been a pattern in which an overwhelming interest of Soludo’s government in yielding to petty political demands, has taken the path of dishonor of our traditional and cultural institution, which Obi of Onitsha significantly mirrors.
Pointing to the events of the Chieftaincy investiture by some traditional rulers in Anambra on President Tinubu during his visit to Anambra State, where Obi of Onitsha was conspicuously absent, Uzu regretted that such treatment is tantamount to deliberate destruction and willful dismantling of the Igbo traditional and cultural legacies.
Below is the full statement from Uzu Okagbue, the YPP Deputy Governorship candidate in the November 8, 2025, Anambra State Governorship election;
“It is a pitiable spectacle when a government, driven by petty grudges, seeks to diminish the very cultural foundations it ought to defend, only to betray it’s own confusion and folly in the process.
How does Mr. President visit Anambra State, home to the venerable Obi of Onitsha, the undisputed primus of the South East traditional hierarchy, only to be crowned by the Governor’s installed state chairman of traditional rulers? In its desperate bid to score transient political points against a sacred institution, the current Anambra State Government, not only offends the dignity of tradition, but also parades it’s own embarrassing incoherence before the nation and the world.
Obi of Onitsha stands; and will remain, a towering emblem of cultural nobility and traditional esteem. No amount of political gaslighting from a rudderless system, which ought to uphold and honor spiritually constituted authorities as seen in more enlightened societies, can diminish his preeminence in South East’s traditional order.
Sadly, Nigeria, and indeed the watching world, are left to ponder: what deep malaise afflicts the current administration in Anambra State, that it would so shamelessly mock the very traditions that dignify it’s existence?”
About two years ago, Soludo’s government suspended Igwe Neni for a chieftaincy investiture on Late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. Owing to the rivalry between Soludo and Ubah at the time, it was generally believed that Soludo sacked the Neni traditional ruler to spite Ubah. But the development infuriated a public outburst, prompting Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, to respond. Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe responded with an open letter to the Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and accused the government of insulting traditional institutions and not carrying the Council of Traditional Rulers along, among other heavy and vital accusations. This did not sit well with the governor, who returned a few days later and removed Obi of Onitsha as Chairman of the Anambra Traditional Rulers Council, claiming his tenure had since elapsed. The governor then left the Council open and only constituted it more than a year after Obi of Onitsha’s removal and then appointed Igwe Iweka of Obosi as its Chairman. It is important to note that the Onitsha and Obosi rivalry and war is not just a piece of history, but a reality that shapes events even today and could easily be reignited. Many fear that the governor is stalking a dangerous cord that could quickly slip out of his control, just to get back at Obi of Onitsha.
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