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Anglican bishop of Egbu Diocese in Owerri, Imo State, Geoffrey Okorafor, has condemned in strong terms the turban of Abia North Senatorial District, Orji Uzor Kalu, as an Emir.
Okorafor stated this at a Eucharistic Service of Confirmation, Admission and Induction for Trans-Egbu Parish worshippers at Jehovah Jireh, Anglican Church, Owerri North.
He said he was disgusted by reports on social media last week over the issue, saying he believed the story because he had not seen or read any rebuttal from Kalu.
The cleric wondered why Kalu did not express displeasure over the leadership of the National Assembly in which the South East region did not clinch a principal office, but instead accepted to be turbaned as Emir.
“I was disappointed at the former Abia State Governor over the development. It is most shameful and deliberate exclusion of the Igbo from the mainstream of Nigerian politics,” he said.
He lamented tha Igbo stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) stayed aloof when the process was going on, stressing that Nigeria was not an Islamic country, but a nation in which individuals were free practice any religion of their choice.
Okorafor, however, commended the Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, for restoring 100 per cent of civil servants salaries in the state, which was reduced to 70 per cent by the immediate past administration.
He also appealed Ihedioha to urgently address payment of pensions of retirees in the state.
On sanitation, he commended the move in clearing Owerri of dirt and refuse heaps, adding that all out-going officers should prepare their handover note to the in-coming personnel as required by law.
