General News of Tuesday, 22 July 2025

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Monarch rejects Indigene Bill, says his kingdom won't allow such right

His Majesty, the Olukosi of Ilukosi-Ijesa, Oba Omotooyosi Bayo M.Akinleye, has opposed the Indigene Bill being proposed by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu.

The bill seeks to grant indigeneity to Nigerian citizens who were born in a state or have lived there for 10 years or are married to someone from the area.

This means the bill will erase the state of origin currently in practice and grant indigenous rights to people with no ancestral ties to any location in Nigeria.

The same bill got the backing of Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State while speaking at the South East, Centre B, Public Hearing (Imo & Abia States) of the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, held at the Eze Imo Palace Auditorium, Owerri.

Uzodimma said, "I also advocated for a reinstatement of a vital democratic tradition, one practised in our early Republics, whereby any Nigerian born in a State or who has lived there for over ten years, with good conduct, should be granted indigene status and its attendant benefits."

Reacting, Oba Akinyele said no constitutional amendment can grant the same right to an outsider in his kingdom.

He shared on X, "No constitutional amendments can give Chukwudi the same right as Adebayo in Ijesaland. Ẹ ja wọ ninu apọn ti ko yọ, ẹ lọ gbe omi ila ka-ina."

ASA