The Obodoakpu Agbogugu community in the Agwu Local Government Area of Enugu State has appealed to the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Rural Development, Okey Ogbodo, not to impose a president-general on the community.

They also urged the commissioner not to subvert the constitution of the community on the method of selecting its president-general or use illegal documents to impose a candidate on them.

Addressing reporters on Saturday in Enugu, community members under the aegis of Concerned People of Obodoakpu Agbogugu pleaded with Mr Ogbodo to allow them to choose their town union president.

They unanimously rejected the move by the commissioner and vowed not to participate in any election held outside its 2004 constitution.

Explaining their grievances, the youth leader, Ikechukwu Aputa, said the community had an existing town union constitution written and adopted in 2004 and was still valid and operational to date.

He explained that all the past president generals and members of the executive that ruled the Obodoakpu community were elected in strict compliance with the 2004 constitution.

The youth leader insisted the community had not adopted a new constitution and did not submit any new constitution to the Ministry of Rural Development Enugu State to replace the 2004 constitution.

He said, “Obodoakpu Community, during her general assembly in 2022, appointed Constitution Review Committee headed by one Barrister Osmond Okoye to review the 2004 Constitution of Obodoakpu.

“The committee has not completed its assignment so as to submit the draft to the general assembly in any of their plenaries, which hold three times every year at the national headquarters in Obodoakpu Agbogugu.

“That the chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Barrister Osmond Okoye, in February 2025, via both voice message and on Obodoakpu WhatsApp platforms, confirmed that the Committee is still working on the new constitution,” he said.

Corroborating what Mr Aputa said, Callistus Nevo and MCCollins Ude, both members of the Constitution Review Committee, disclosed that the committee was still working on the new constitution to be submitted when completed.

Another community member, Hyacinth Udeh, urged the government to constitute a caretaker committee to oversee its affairs pending the completion of the new constitution and conduct an election that the community would accept.

When contacted, Mr Ogbodo said the ministry had no right to stop any president-general from seeking reelection.

Mr Ogbodo said all the necessary steps the ministry took were to ensure a smooth election in the community, adding that it did not conduct an election but came as an observer.

He explained that the amended community constitution was read to the General Assembly, which they adopted as a working document and approved and stamped.

The commissioner also disclosed that the election for the new president-general for the community had been scheduled for April 12, urging the interested persons to contest.

“The current president-general wants to come back for a second tenure, and the ministry cannot stop him. In every election, there must be an aggrieved party.

“We cannot stop anyone who wants to contest from contesting. It’s left for the community to vote and choose their leaders,” Mr Ogbodo said.

(NAN)