A section of Nanka community in Orumba North LGA, Anambra State has called on governor Willie Obiano to immediately sack the state Attorney General, Dr Uju Nworgu, over a alleged abuse of office.
A royal family in the community, Ezeokweghi/ Ezeofor Royal Family, through one of her members, Barr Chinedu Enemuo, alleged that Nanka has been enmeshed in kingship crisis, after the death of the late monarch, Igwe Gilbert Offomata, in which a faction of the community decided to elect a new monarch, as against the provisions of the constitution of the community.
According to Enemuo, Ezeokweghi/Ezeofor Royal Family insisted that the tradition of the community does not permit the enthronement of a new monarch, when the late one is yet to be buried but some members of the community went ahead to write a new constitution for the town as well as forged the signature of prominent indigenes to give the new constitution credence.
He said the action led them to institute a criminal suit against the persons only for State Attorney General to halt the trial without following due process.
According to him, “The Attorney General did what can be called an abuse of her office. She halted a criminal trial in my community. The constitution of Nigeria gave her right to stop a trial, but the process here is the issue. This is a criminal matter.
“There is process for stopping matters that an Attorney General is interested in. She can appear or send a lawyer to tell the court that she wishes to stop the trial and it has to be on the basis of consideration of public interest and Justice and be in a way it would not be an abuse of judicial process.
“She has right to enter nolle prosequi in a matter, that is if she wants to broker peace with parties, but this is a criminal matter which is already in court. You don’t settle such criminal matter out of court. Who are you settling with in a criminal matter.
“Let us even assume that she wants to settle and make peace with the parties concerned. You have to seek the consent of the parties, but she did not tell anybody, because she did not tell us, you just went ahead and halted a matter in which you are yet to speak to those involved.
“She does not have the right to settle anybody out of court, but that is what she said, that she wants to settle us because of so many petitions on her tables, but she did not as little as tell is who wrote petitions or even avail us the opportunity to read them, so that we can reply. Is that how to make peace among parties.
“Just one month after the people involved were arraigned, she (Attorney General) quickly called for the file and halted the trial. We can now see that she has interest in the matter.
“I advise that she gets back the file and prove that her interest is for justice. We don’t want her to bring the file and the next day the magistrate will be transferred. We are asking that if she does not do this, we will cause a suit against her, that will run even when she is out of office. We are also calling on governor Obiano to sack her for engaging in activities capable of stopping justice.”
Dr Nworgu was however not available at her office when reporters visited to seek her reaction to the story. Further attempt to speak to her on phone also failed.
A source in her office told reporters that, “she does not want to join issues with those people. What she is doing is within her right.”
