By George Ozalla
A fresh crisis has erupted in Nsugbe community, Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, over moves to elect a new traditional ruler in apparent disregard of a subsisting interlocutory injunction issued by the Anambra State High Court restraining the selection or election of an Igwe for the community.
The development has generated tension among members of the community, with some indigenes protesting the proposed election and questioning the decision to proceed with the exercise while the court order remains in force.
The controversy is connected with the contest for the traditional stool involving Mr. Nzesi Nweke, elder brother of the Anambra State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Tochukwu Nweke, SAN, and Obi Franklin Amechi Okeke, popularly known as Odanike Nsugbe, a businessman and philanthropist.
The case before the court arose from disagreement over the procedure to be adopted in selecting the next traditional ruler of Nsugbe.
Azubuike Obiekwe, Esq., an indigene of the community and one of those following the matter, said the Nsugbe Constitution provides that the Igwe should be produced by Ivite Quarter, which he said is the quarter entitled to produce the traditional ruler at this point in the rotational arrangement.
According to Obiekwe, the constitution provides for voting by adult members of Ivite Quarter in choosing the traditional ruler, while there were moves by some interests to adopt a delegate system.
The disagreement over the procedure led to litigation, culminating in the order of the Anambra State High Court made on August 5, 2025.
The court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the selection or election of an Igwe of Nsugbe pending the determination of the substantive suit before it.
The injunction remains subsisting.
Despite the court order, a new development emerged on August 24, 2026, when the Anambra State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy/Community Affairs, Vincent Ifeanyi Ezeaka, dissolved the elected executive of the Nsugbe Development Union and constituted a caretaker committee to oversee the affairs of the union.
The caretaker committee subsequently announced late on Saturday, August 29, that an election for the Igweship of Nsugbe would take place at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 30.
The timing and manner of the announcement heightened tension in the community, particularly among those who maintain that no election or selection of an Igwe should take place while the court’s injunction remains in force.
Residents and indigenes opposed to the exercise gathered in Nsugbe on Sunday morning to protest the proposed election.
Videos from the community showed protesters expressing opposition to the exercise and insisting that the court order must be respected.
Among the prominent indigenes said to have opposed the process were former Senator Alphonsus Igbeke and Senator Tony Nwoye.
Obiekwe condemned the planned election, describing it as a direct violation of the subsisting order of the High Court.
He called on Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo to urgently intervene in the matter and prevent the dispute from degenerating into a wider crisis in the community.
The latest development has brought the long-running disagreement over the Nsugbe traditional stool into sharper focus, particularly the question of who has the constitutional authority to participate in the selection and which procedure should be followed.
While one side of the dispute insists that the Nsugbe Constitution requires adult members of Ivite Quarter to vote directly in the selection of the traditional ruler, the disagreement over the proposed delegate system remains part of the issues before the court.
The dissolution of the elected Nsugbe Development Union executive and the subsequent constitution of a caretaker committee have also become part of the developments surrounding the dispute.
The situation remained tense in the community on Sunday as residents awaited further developments over the proposed election and the enforcement of the subsisting court injunction.
The Anambra State Government and the other parties directly involved in the Igweship dispute had not, as of the time of filing this report, issued a public statement on the latest development.
