The Abia State government has presented the Staff of Office to Eberechukwu Oji, confirming him as the Eze Aro IX of the Arochukwu Kingdom.
The mantle of rulership was presented to him by Abia State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Uzor Nwachukwu, at the Abia State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Umuahia on Friday.
The State government had in a press release, Friday morning, recognised Eberechukwu Oji as the new Eze Aro, citing the decision on his Okennachi kindred which it said, selected him.
The State government also cited a report submitted by Abia State Board of Panel on the matter, which it said, nullified the previous coronation of Godwin Kanu Idei as the Eze Aro.
In his speech, while receiving the Staff of Office, Eberechukwu Oji promised to unite everyone in the Arochukwu Kingdom, adding that he would carry everybody along to move Arochukwu ahead.
“It is my desire that we live in unity and we will maintain absolute balance in everything we do and we pursue in the kingdom and that Arochukwu will become a model of what traditional Igbo leadership represents”, Oji said.
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Uzor Nwachukwu charged the new king to rule with peace, unity and love even as he urged him to maintain law and order.
He congratulated the people of Arochukwu for their resilience even as he maintained that the State government did not influence the emergence of Eberechukwu Oji.
However, Godwin Kanu Idei, who contested the throne with Eberechukwu Oji, rejected the news of the presentation of Staff of Office by the Abia State government, saying it was a mere distraction.
“Whatever happened was a mere distraction and does not change the status quo”, Godwin Kanu Idei said.
He urged his supporters to remain calm.
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