Crisis Simmers in Idume Ogwa as Town Union President Fails to Constitute New Leadership

A deepening sense of crisis has engulfed the idyllic town of Idume Ogwa in Mbaitoli LGA, Imo State, following the failure of the current leadership of the town union, led by Felix Okechukwu Madu, to constitute a new leadership. The crisis has taken a toll on the community, with leaders and residents at odds over the way forward.

According to Sir D.D. Iwuoha, the immediate past Traditional Prime Minister of the community, the tenure of the current town union president expired on August 17, this year, having been elected on the same date in 2021. However, despite the expiration of his tenure, Madu’s leadership has yet to constitute an electoral committee to oversee the process of electing new executives.

Iwuoha accused the president of using delay tactics to perpetuate himself in office, despite going against the constitution. The situation has sparked widespread discontent among residents, who are calling for a new leadership.

Madu, however, defends his stance, citing the traditional custom of mourning the death of the town’s late Traditional Ruler, HRH. Eze Alban Uzor, who passed away in 2023. According to Madu, the community’s constitution stipulates that in the event of the death of the traditional ruler or his wife (Lolo), no public function will take place until the end of the mourning period.

The town union president pointed out that when Ugoeze Grace Uzor died a few years ago, the women’s group of the town union mourned her for a year without participating in any festival. An emergency meeting was held on January 18, this year, to reaffirm the decision not to hold any public gathering or festivity during the ongoing one-year mourning period, which ends on December 29, this year.

As the crisis deepens, the member representing Mbaitoli Constituency in Imo State House of Assembly, Innocent Ikechukwu Ikpamezie, has intervened in the crisis, calling on the warring parties to seek peaceful resolution. Ikpamezie has offered to help resolve the issue, citing similar cases that have been successfully resolved at his office.

The lawmakers’ intervention has brought together leaders of the community, including the former president general of the town union, Herbert Eluchie, Solomon Nwaneri, youth leader of the community, Joseph Ibekwe, among others. Ikpamezie urged the parties to consult the constitution and apply its provisions to the current issue, while emphasizing the need to avoid actions that could disrupt the mourning period of their Eze.