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Mike Okiro, a former Inspector General of Police, has described how he was unable to run in the just concluded Ohanaeze Ndigbo election in Enugu due to a fictitious court order.

Speaking to reporters in Port Harcourt, Mike Okiro, a candidate for the position of President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, clarified that the Enugu High Court was allegedly the source of the fictitious court order.

He claimed that the Election Screening Committee blocked him from screening and subsequent non-participation on the basis of a fictitious court order that was promoted in various media outlets.

According to the former IGP ” In the evening of Tuesday 7th January 2025 my attention was drawn to a media news where it was said that I was barred from the election into the post of President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo by a Court Order issued at Enugu High Court. I engaged my lawyer to obtain a copy of the order/process and proceed to vacate the said order. By the close of work on Wednesday 8th January, 2025, the lawyer did not succeed due to a shortage of time”.

He added that ” On Thursday 9th January, 2025 I had to address the press to say that I was stepping aside in compliance with the court injunction to encourage Nigerians to be law abiding and obey constituted authorities viz-a-viz the Courts. Later in the day I went for screening based on the fact that my lawyer was still struggling to set aside the order, that if he succeeds by Friday 10th January, 2025 I would take part in the election. The panel refused to screen me basing their decision on the said Court Order. I submitted two copies of my press conference to the screening committee and left the premises”.

He said that when his lawyer eventually obtained the court proceedings after the election was over, it was found that there was no court order prohibiting him from the election as propagated.

Judge N.R. Orji only gave the Applicants permission to serve the Respondents, the Retired Police Chief said, adding that he was disappointed that the aforementioned court order he had complied with was a hoax.

Okiro observed that “By the close of work on Friday 10th January, 2025 my lawyer was able to obtain the court proceedings while the election had been concluded without me. There was no court order at all in the court proceedings. No court order barring me from the election. What the media showed the world was false, deceitful and misleading and I fell into it because I am law abiding. The fact as contained in the court process which my lawyer obtained from the High Court of Enugu State of Nigeria presided over by Honourable Justice N.R Orji are: Comrade Chimenu Amadi filed a suit seeking the order of the court to bar me from the screening and from the election as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The Respondents were Ohanaeze Ndigbo and five others including me. The lawyer was seeking for a court order in Motion Ex-parte dated and filed on Monday 6th January, 2025. On Tuesday 7th January, 2025 the Court sat and granted Leave to the Applicants to serve the Respondents. Two days were given the Applicants between service hearing of the Motion on Notice by the Court. The Motion was fixed for hearing on Friday 10th January, 2025. My concern has been that Orders are Orders, especially coming from constituted authority and must be obeyed no matter the consequences. I did not know that the court order I saw in the press was a hoax; I obeyed and missed the election. The screening committee also denied me screening process based on the said Court order”.

The former IGP charged the Nigeria Bar Association with disciplining the lawyer for trading false information from a court with the intention of misleading Nigerians and undermining the credibility of the judiciary, while also urging the police to implement Section 125(A) of the Criminal Code Laws and address the criminal issue of false information.

However, Okiro expressed his unwavering support for the growth and prosperity of Ndigbo globally and congratulated Senator John Mbata on his appointment as President-General Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

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