Obong of Calabar: Council of Chiefs debunks alleged enthronement saga
BY AKPAN WILLIAMS, CALABAR
The Etubom Traditional Rulers Council of the Palace of the Obong of Calabar has debunked the enthronement or proclamation of any other Obong apart from the Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu-V to the Efik Kingdom.
This is contained in the press release signed by the Chairman of the Etuboms Traditional Council, HRH Etubom Bassey O. B. Duke made available to the pressmen at the Palace of the Obong of Calabar during a press conference on Tuesday.
The statement reads in part, “The attention of the Etuboms’ Traditional Council has been drawn to a series of unauthorized letters and announcement, prepared on forged letter headed paper and signed individuals impersonating the Chairman and Secretary of our Council”
“We have also been shown a video in which Chief Anthony Ani is seen surrounded by a scanty motley crew playing the sinister ‘Agaba’ and other inappropriate masquerades, purporting to have made him the Obong of Calabar in his domestic residence, thus demonstrating their delusion of ignorance of the sacredness of such an affair”
“The Etuboms’ Traditional Council, comprising the head of 24 Royal Houses would like to believe that this is a skit or mischievous prank using the new Airport tools which can mislead the public, the recent fake bombing of the Pentagon being a prime example of such”
The statement further stated, “That on January 13th, 2023, the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, dismissed the appeal brought before it by Chief Anthony Ani for lack of merit”
“In the same judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal, in 2013, which found Chief Anthony Ani “traditionally unqualified and ineligible to vote or be voted for in matters concerning the stool of the Obong of Calabar” indeed, the purported smuggling of this name into the contest as an aspirant to the revered Efik Throne is what the Appeal Court vehemently frowned at and adjudged as a contamination of the process which warranted redress”
“Consequently, therefore, “The Supreme Court ordered that the Obong reselection exercise be done and specifically stated that the” first Respondent namely Seem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu-V is automatically qualified to participate in the said process”
The statement further clarified that “The Etuboms Traditional Council, adhering to its age-long Traditional processes, in strict compliance with its constitution and laws, carried out the re-selection exercise on the 18th of January, 2023 and proclaimed His Eminence, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu-V, the Obong of Calabar, for the fourth and final time.
“The Supreme Court, Government and the security agencies were duly and formally notified of the step by procedures that were followed as far back as January 20th, 2023”
“It is therefore worthy of note that a new Obong of Calabar, the Treaty King of Efik Kingdom from inception can only be emerged only if the current Obong has transit to be with the Ancestors” the statement reads.
