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I was dribbled out of Ohanaeze PG race with fake court order — Mike Okiro

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Chief Mike Okiro, former Inspector General of Police, has recounted how some vested interest used a non-existent court order to dribble him out of the just concluded Ohanaeze Ndigbo presidential race in Enugu State.

News Band Newspaper reported that Senator Mbata, who represented Rivers East Senatorial district at the National Assembly, was elected on Friday, 10 January, 2025 at Enugu State in a convention, which was attended by South-East Governors and other leaders of thought from the region.

Though, days leading to the election were greeted with so much controversies and legal fireworks.

It started with a strong battle against the candidacy of Mike Okiro.

Chief Okiro was accused of being an Imo state person and, as such, was not qualified to contest the position reserved for Rivers State indigenes.

The controversy raised by the identity crisis had pushed a lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, to approach the Enugu High Court, which restrained him from the race on Wednesday.

Okiro finally capitulated and stepped down from the race on Thursday night in compliance with the alleged fake Federal High Court injunction.

The former police chief while addressing newsmen in Port-Harcourt explained that the false court order bandied in some sections of the media was what the Election Screening Committee of the apex socio-cultural organisation relied on to restrain him from screening and subsequent non-participation.

He said, ”In the evening of Tuesday 7th January 2025 my attention was drawn to a media news where it was said that I was barred from the election into the post of President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo by a Court Order issued at Enugu High Court. I engaged my lawyer to obtain a copy of the order/process and proceed to vacate the said order. By the close of work on Wednesday 8th January, 2025, the lawyer did not succeed due to a shortage of time”.

He added, ”On Thursday 9th January, 2025 I had to address the press to say that I was stepping aside in compliance with the court injunction to encourage Nigerians to be law abiding and obey constituted authorities viz-a-viz the Courts. Later in the day I went for screening based on the fact that my lawyer was still struggling to set aside the order, that if he succeeds by Friday 10th January, 2025 I would take part in the election. The panel refused to screen me basing their decision on the said Court Order. I submitted two copies of my press conference to the screening committee and left the premises”.

Mr. Okiro said when his lawyer eventually obtained the Court proceedings after the election had been concluded, it was discovered that there was no court order barring him from the election as propagated.

He said Justice N.R Orji only granted a Leave to the Applicants to serve the Respondents, adding that he felt disappointed that the said Court Order he obeyed was a fake.

Okiro noted, “By the close of work on Friday 10th January, 2025 my lawyer was able to obtain the court proceedings while the election had been concluded without me. There was no court order at all in the court proceedings. No court order barring me from the election. What the media showed the world was false, deceitful and misleading and I fell into it because I am law abiding. The fact as contained in the court process which my lawyer obtained from the High Court of Enugu State of Nigeria presided over by Honourable Justice N.R Orji are: Comrade Chimenu Amadi filed a suit seeking the order of the court to bar me from the screening and from the election as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The Respondents were Ohanaeze Ndigbo and five others including me. The lawyer was seeking for a court order in Motion Ex-parte dated and filed on Monday 6th January, 2025. On Tuesday 7th January, 2025 the Court sat and granted Leave to the Applicants to serve the Respondents. Two days were given the Applicants between service hearing of the Motion on Notice by the Court. The Motion was fixed for hearing on Friday 10th January, 2025. My concern has been that Orders are Orders, especially coming from constituted authority and must be obeyed no matter the consequences. I did not know that the court order I saw in the press was a hoax; I obeyed and missed the election. The screening committee also denied me screening process based on the said Court order”.

Moreover, in light of these events, Okiro called on the Nigerian Police to activate Section 125(A) of the Criminal Code Laws, which deals with the criminal offense of providing false information.

He urged the police to investigate the individuals responsible for fabricating the court order, as he believed they had committed a serious crime that had adversely affected not only his political ambitions but also the integrity of the electoral process.

Okiro further called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to take disciplinary action against the lawyer involved in this misleading case.

He vehemently condemned the act of spreading false court orders aimed at deceiving the public and undermining the credibility of Nigeria’s judiciary.

Okiro’s remarks highlighted the serious consequences of such behavior, which he felt had tarnished the reputation of the legal profession and weakened the public’s trust in the court system.

However, despite the setback, Okiro congratulated Senator John Mbata on his successful election as the new President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

He expressed his full support for the new leadership and pledged to work with new Ohanaeze executive to advance the cause of Ndigbo worldwide.