The Chairman of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Linus Nto Mbah, has stated that the Council’s suspension of Eze Nnamdi Ofoegbu was due to insubordination and blatant disregard for the Council’s directives, and not because of any alleged support for President Bola Tinubu or the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu.
Eze Mbah made the clarification while reacting to what he described as a malicious and baseless online report titled “Abia State Government Suspends Monarch Over Alleged Support for Tinubu, Benjamin Kalu”.
He stressed that the suspension letter, which he also made available to the press, was clear and unambiguous, and made no mention of either Mr President or the Deputy Speaker.
“The suspension letter was not ambiguous. It reads in parts: ‘Our letter, dated 6th June 2025, refers; consequent upon your consistent and flagrant disregard to the instructions of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, with respect to your parading a parallel South East Traditional Rulers Council (code named South East Progressive Traditional Rulers Forum, Ndigbo Progressive Traditional Rulers Forum), causing rift amongst the traditional rulers of the South East, ably led by HRM Eze Dr E.C. Okeke, and bringing Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers to disrepute and dishonour to the State Government.
“You are hereby suspended from the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers for six (6) months.
“So, let me reiterate that the letter that suspended him does not in any way suggest that it is because of his attitude or behaviour towards any political official, not even President Tinubu or Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu; rather, it is because of his disrespect to the Council’s instructions as regards running a parallel association”, Eze Mbah explained.
The Traditional Ruler expressed dismay that “a sane reporter could have written and published such a falsehood to discredit the Abia State Government and the Abia State Traditional Rulers, and attempt to create acrimony between the traditional institution in Abia State and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives”.
He therefore urged all Abians, South Easterners and Nigerians in general to disregard the publication, describing it as the handiwork of those willing to be used to cause problems and fuel disunity among the people.
It will be recalled that the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, in March this year, disbanded all Traditional Rulers’ Associations operating in parallel with the various State Traditional Rulers Councils in the South East.
The decision was contained in a communiqué issued by the 9th Assembly of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, after its meeting at JAAC House, Umuahia, and widely publicised.
