By Etop Ekanem

High Chief Solomon Aguene has emphasised that he remains the elected president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State chapter.

Aguene stated this during a press conference at the Ohanaeze Ndigbo secretariat, Surulere, Lagos, weekend, where he said based on the consent court judgment that pronounced the elongation of his tenure in office, having been elected in 2018 in a widely accepted election by igbo indigenes in Lagos, his tenure will expire in 2026.

Aguene, who was reacting to the purported endorsement of one Chief Sunday Ossai by the “Council of Chiefs,” Ohanaeze Lagos Chapter, described it as “not a serious issue but a social media joke.”

According to him, “I have consent judgement in which Chief Ossai was part of the agreed consent judgement. Ossai cannot be president of Ohanaeze because, according to Ohanaeze Ndigbo constitution and bye-laws, an Onowu cannot be President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Sunday Ossai is an Onowu. He cannot contest the Ohanaeze President and if he does that, it’s null and void. And above all, I have a consent judgement and he was part of the people that agreed on that consent judgement before the position was given to me because the position can only be contested by chairmen of local governments.

I urge all Ndigbo in Lagos to come together and look for a vibrant person, someone that will be capable to take over from me, become the mouthpiece of ndigbo in Lagos as my tenure will elapse June 18, 2026.”

Debunking what he called erroneous interpretation of the purported endorsement of Ossai by President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo,Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, Aguene said: “Iwuanyawu is very civilised, enlightened and law-abiding to support this illegality or encourage disrespect and disobedience of a high court judgement. What the PG specifically said was that it was Sunday Ossai that was presenting to him and that he was not aware of the Lagos crisis and “my court consent judgement.”