Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has criticised a bill before the Senate that proposes to permanently designate the Ooni of Ife and the Sultan of Sokoto as the exclusive Co-Chairmen of the Traditional Rulers Council.
The organisation described the move as detrimental to the interests of leading traditional rulers from other ethnic groups and geopolitical zones.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Enugu, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr Ezechi Chukwu, expressed the group’s displeasure.
He noted that the bill, which has already passed second reading, reflects an alarming disregard for fairness, equity, justice, and the Federal Character principle as enshrined in the constitution.
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“The Senate in this vein has failed in its capacity as the highest legislative carrier and custodian of the nation’s democratic mandate.
“This bill is not only inequitable, discriminatory and ethnocentric, it is equally distasteful, reprehensible and objectionable.
“It lacks all the ethical considerations, objective metrics and unbiased categories for national unity and social justice in a pluralist nation-State like Nigeria,” Chukwu said.
He said Ohanaeze Ndigbo called for the urgent withdrawal of the bill and the need to review it in consideration for ethnic differences, cultural sensitivity, geopolitical balance, inclusive governance and equitable representation.
“It is only by so doing shall the bill foster national unity, peaceful co-existence and social stability,” he stressed
