Lawyer to embattled traditional ruler of Obinugwu Autono­mous Community in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, Obiora Obianwu (SAN) has dis­missed claims that his cli­ent, Eze (Dr.) Cletus Ike­chukwu Ilumuanya (CON), Obi I of Obinugwu, was convicted by a court in Cross River State in 1990.
Reacting to an advertorial signed by the Chairman of Imo State chapter of All Pro­gressives Congress (APC), Dr. Hilary Eke and published in Daily Sun on August 15, the lawyer said the allega­tion that the traditional ruler was convicted of conspiracy and obtaining under false pretences was “a dubious contrivance of the Imo State government.”
Obianwu, who also de­bunked Eke’s claim that Eze Ilomuanya’s name was dropped from the list of re­cipients of National Honours in 2009, said his client was a “proud recipient of National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).”
Linking the advertorial to Imo State Governor, Ro­chas Okorocha, the lawyer described the “judgment extracts” Eke used in sup­porting his claims as the gov­ernor’s “dirty job” of execut­ing “his unending vendetta against our client.”
Obianwu’s letter to Daily Sun explained: “The first act of Governor Okorocha on as­suming office was to illegally remove our client from office as chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rul­ers. The Court of Appeal on 5th July, 2013 stopped Gov­ernor Okorocha in his tracks in CA/OW/528/12 – Eze (Dr. Cletus I. Ilumuanya Vs. Gov­ernor of Imo State & Anor.
“The spurious judgment (extracts) first emerged when Governor Okorocha’s House of Assembly, sometime in 2011 purported to pass a res­olution which had the same effect as your publication.
“The High Court of Imo State on 20th March, 2013 in Suit No. HOW/103/2012 – Dr. Cletus I. Ilomuanya (CON) Vs. Hon. Emeka Nwafor and 6 others nullified the worthless resolution and cast the spurious contrivance of Governor Okorocha and his minions into the dustbin of discredited forgeries…
“Our client, a most illus­trious and distinguished tra­ditional ruler, who ascended the throne as far back as 1996 could not have been the subject of a conviction for conspiracy and obtaining under false pretences in 1990 because the relevant statute regulating the conduct of traditional rulers and autono­mous communities bars per­sons convicted for ‘any of­fence involving fraud’ from becoming traditional rulers.
“It is on record that our cli­ent was not only a traditional ruler, but also the chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers and South East Council of Traditional Rulers.”

Imo monarch not convicted –Lawyer