A disagreement has erupted in the Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, involving the council chairman, Mrs Uphemia Nwali, and six councillors from the eleven wards of the council.
The dispute is centred around allegations of unpaid wages and other remunerations owed to the councillors.
The conflict was reported by Prime 9ja Online and began when approximately seven councillors expressed their confidence in the council chairman, Mrs Nwali, during her presentation of the 2024 budget at the council headquarters in Onueke.
However, six of the eleven councillors voiced their opposition and protested against the vote of confidence in the council chairman, Nwali.
The ensuing clashes led to a significant security breach at the council headquarters in Onueke, resulting in the vandalisation of numerous vehicles, individuals being attacked with machetes and the destruction of other valuable properties worth millions of naira.
One of the councillors, Mr Ukpabi Henry, representing the Amagu/Nsokkara ward, spoke to journalists in Abakaliki shortly after the clash. He stated, "The council chairman is not doing what she is supposed to be doing at the council. The councillors don’t know what is going on in the council. The councillors don’t have any entitlement in the council. She did not pay us our legislative votes for nine months now. The council headquarters is overgrown with weeds. Cultism and robbery are back in the council. The council has been enjoying relative peace, but it’s no more now."
He subsequently called on the state governor, Francis Nwifuru, to intervene by instructing the council chairman, Nwali, to pay them their entitlements to prevent further disrepute.
In response to these allegations, Chairman Mrs. Uphemia Nwali denied owing any entitlement or salaries to any councillors or staff of the council. She accused Ukpabi of being sponsored by Senator Kenneth Eze, who represents the Ebonyi Central senatorial zone, to destabilise her administration in the council.
Nwali said, "I was presenting the 2024 budget, and everything was peaceful. The councillors passed a vote of confidence on my administration because of the peace and infrastructural facilities we have provided for the people in the council, but Ukpabi opposed it and rushed to take the mess, but other councillors overpowered him and collected it back from him. He started making noise and causing trouble inside the hall. He went outside and collected a machete from his car and started snatching cars that belong to councillors and other properties that belong to the council."