Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has described a bill seeking to make the Ooni of Ife and Sultan of Sokoto the exclusive Co-Chairmen of the Traditional Rulers Council in the Senate as inequitable, discriminatory and ethnocentric.
The Igbo apex cultural and political organization also described the bill as distasteful, reprehensible and objectionable in a statement by Dr Ezechi Chukwu, its National Publicity Secretary of on Sunday in Enugu.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide said the move by the senate would be at the expense of apex traditional rulers from other ethnic nationalities and geopolitical divides.
The bill has passed second reading in the Senate.
Chukwu said the Igbo body was astounded with the rationale for such an asymmetric bill by the Senate with its utter disregard for fairness, equity, justice and the principle of Federal Character, as enshrined in the constitution.
“The Senate in this vein has failed in its capacity as the highest legislative carrier and custodian of the nation’s democratic mandate.
“This bill is not only inequitable, discriminatory and ethnocentric, it is equally distasteful, reprehensible and objectionable.
“It lacks all the ethical considerations, objective metrics and unbiased categories for national unity and social justice in a pluralist nation-State like Nigeria,” Chukwu said.
He said Ohanaeze Ndigbo called for the urgent withdrawal of the bill and the need to review it in consideration for ethnic differences, cultural sensitivity, geopolitical balance, inclusive governance and equitable representation.
“It is only by so doing shall the bill foster national unity, peaceful co-existence and social stability,” he stressed.
NAN
