Tension in Delta kingdom over monarch’s leadership

Ogbe-Ijoh kingdom, Warri southwest council area of Delta State, is currently under tension over the leadership style of the monarch, Couple Mackson Oromoni, in directing the affairs of the kingdom.

A group under the aegis of Concerned Indigenes, in a protest letter are, calling for the intervention of the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. The group noted that since the traditional ruler’s ascension to the throne four years ago, established constitutional practices in the kingdom have been constantly violated.

The letter, signed Denbo-Denbofa Oweikpodor, Eric Omare and Izoukumor Wellington, on behalf of the group, explained that powers are shared between the traditional council headed by the Pere (king) and the kingdom’s governing council.

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In respect of the Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Clan Governing Council, the procedure is for the various positions in the council to rotate amongst the six quarters in the kingdom and it is the exclusive authority of that quarter whose turn it is to produce the chairman or any other position, to nominate a candidate of their choice at a general meeting of the quarter and forward the candidate to the electoral committee for screening and confirmation.

Upon screening and confirmation, the responsibility of the Pere-in-council is to inaugurate the chairman and other members of the Governing Council. This constitutional practice which was introduced sometime in the year 2000 has promoted peace and orderliness in the transition processes in the kingdom over the years,” the letter said.

It, however, decried the efforts of the king to deliberately “undermine and subvert this constitutional process by trying to singlehandedly pick who should be the chairman and members of the governing council and remove them at will without recourse to due process in flagrant violation of the constitution of the Ogbe-Ijoh people.