The reported proclamation of former finance minister, Chief Tony Ani, as another Obong of Calabar is fake, the Etubom Traditional Council of the Palace of the Obong of Calabar has said.
The chairman of the council, Etubom Bassey Okor Bassey Duke, who was flanked by other members of the council, said during a press conference in Calabar that the tradition of the Efik people forbids proclamation of anyone as new Obong while the occupier of the throne is still alive.
Speaking over the matter, Etubom Duke said: “The Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, remains on the revered Efik throne. He is hale and hearty and shall do so peacefully until it is his God appointed time to meet his creator. Normal activities continue in the Etuboms Traditional Council, the OCEF and all other organs of the palace.
“On Jan 13th 2023, the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ‘dismissed’ the appeal brought before it by Chief Ani for ‘lack of merit.’
“In the same judgement, the Supreme Court ‘affirmed’ the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal in 2013, which found Chief 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 his name into the contest as an aspirant to the revered Efik throne is what the Appeal Court vehemently frowned at.”
