By Vincent Ujumadu
AWKA — The planned selection of a new traditional ruler for Nsugbe Community in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State was disrupted following a court order restraining the conduct of the exercise, court documents have shown.
The clarification followed allegations by the Chairman of the caretaker committee set up by the state government, Mr Sunday Attah, that Senator Tony Nwoye, representing Anambra North Senatorial District, led a group to the venue on Saturday and disrupted the selection process.
However, documents from the Awka Judicial Division showed that Justice Jude Obiora, sitting as Vacation Judge 1, had on August 5, 2026, issued a preservative order restraining the conduct or selection of an Igwe for Nsugbe pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The order was issued in Motion No. OT/1192m/2026, filed on July 8, 2026, in connection with Suit No. OT/237/2026.
The plaintiffs in the suit are Chukwuma Omenyi, who deposed to the affidavit, Okechukwu Arizona Dibua, Uchechukwu Emmanuel Nwalunor, Obichukwu Nwokike and Igwebuike Ado.
They instituted the action on their own behalf and on behalf of the Nsugbe Electoral Committee for the selection of the Igwe of Nsugbe.
The defendants include Eugene Ado, Sunday Ado, Sunday Nwoye, Tony Tagbo, Igweze Chinweze, Ikechukwu Nwalunor, Dr Emeka Ezeazu, Kingsley Mokwe, Obi Christian Ebochie, John Obiora, Felix Okonkwo, Nnamdi Okeke, identified as President-General of Nsugbe Development Union, the Incorporated Trustees of Nsugbe Development Union, Sir Amarachi Franklin Okeke and Nzekwesi John Nweke.
After hearing arguments from counsel to the parties, including Chief Chukwudi Obieze, SAN, for the plaintiffs, and Amarachi P. Nwoye, M.C. Udechukwu, Chris Nweke, C.C. Ofoegbunam and I.I. Orji for various defendants, Justice Obiora declined to grant a broad interlocutory injunction but issued limited preservative orders.
The judge ordered the parties to maintain the status quo as of July 8, 2026, when the suit was filed.
Specifically, the court restrained any person or group from organising, conducting, supervising or giving effect to any election or selection of the next Igwe of Nsugbe from Ivite Quarter, which had been scheduled for August 8, 2026.
The court also ruled that time would not run against Ivite Quarter in producing the next Igwe and that the rotational turn would not pass to another quarter until the dispute was resolved, either amicably or through a final judgment.
Justice Obiora stated that the orders were without prejudice to the court’s eventual determination of the authenticity and interpretation of the competing constitutional documents governing the traditional institution.
The court further ordered an accelerated hearing of the case and directed the parties to file all outstanding processes within the time prescribed by the rules.
Following the ruling, the Secretary-General of Nsugbe Development Union (National), Dr Benedict I. Uzoechina, wrote to the State Director of the Department of State Services on August 6, forwarding the enrolled court order and a request for compliance.
Uzoechina urged the DSS to ensure compliance with the order in order to prevent a breach of peace in the community.
Despite the court order, however, Attah, the caretaker committee chairman, maintained that the directive did not affect the committee’s mandate to conduct the selection because neither the Anambra State Government nor the caretaker committee was listed as a party in the suit.
He also maintained that the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, who hails from Nsugbe, had no role in the committee’s arrangements for the selection.
The development has further complicated the process for selecting a new traditional ruler for the community, pending the resolution of the issues before the court.
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