The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has condemned the Senate bill that seeks to make the Ooni of Ife and Sultan of Sokoto the exclusive co-chairmen of the Traditional Rulers Council. The bill has passed second reading.

The group said the move would exclude top traditional rulers from other ethnic groups and regions.

Ezechi Chukwu, the spokesman for Ohanaeze, said this in a statement on Sunday.

Mr Chukwu said the Igbo body was surprised by the rationale for such a bill by the Senate, expressing concern about its alignment with fairness, equity, justice and the principle of Federal Character as outlined in the Constitution.

He stated that the Senate had not fulfilled its responsibility as the primary legislative body and custodian of the nation’s democratic mandate.

The group described the bill as inequitable, discriminatory, and ethnocentric and further characterized it as 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,” Mr Chukwu said.

He said Ohanaeze Ndigbo urgently called for the bill’s withdrawal. The group demanded a review that considers ethnic differences, cultural sensitivity, geopolitical balance, inclusion, and fairness.

“It is only by so doing shall the bill foster national unity, peaceful co-existence and social stability,” he added. 

(NAN)