Soludo Under Fire to Sack Onitsha Drugs Market Committee Chairman as Traders Stage ‘Chukwulota Must Go’ Protest

By Uzo Ugwunze

Protesters under the name of “Concerned and Genuine Members of Ogbogwu Medical Traders’, have listed the 15 sins and evils’ of Chukwuleta Ndubuisi, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ogbogwu market bridge head Onitsha saying that Governor Chukwuma Soludo was likely to lose about 7000 votes come November 8, 2025 due to the alleged high handedness of the Drug market Chairman.

‎During the protest that lasted for about two hours, the protesters led by Chief Chibueze Ifejiofor marched through some lines in Ogbogwu market chanting: “Chukwuleta must go, Chukwulota must go” slogan.

Armed with placards some of which have the inscriptions: “Chukwulota Ndubisi, a leadership failure in Ogbogwu Market;” “Chukwulota told us that he is accountable only to SPAD, Chief of Staff, and Perm Sec., not to the traders;” “Executive recklessness in Ogbogwu Market. We are tired of SPAD and Chukwulota’s antics. Chukwulota extorted N150m from Ogbogwu Electricity Project. All APGA members in Ogbogwu are angry with Chukwulota;” “Soludo, remove Chukwulota now so that APGA can win votes”, among others, the protesters listed about 15 things they termed as Chukwulota’s ‘sins and evils’.

The “Concerned and Genuine Members of Ogbogwu Medical Traders, listed the 15 sins and evils’ of Chukwulota and his executive as dissolution of forum of line chairmen and secretaries in the market, refusal to give account of their stewardship to the traders since inception, conspiracy with NAFDAC on February 9, 2025 to loot, burgle and cart away all their goods without any single inventory taken.

“Chukwulota and his executive stole the money we contributed for electric transformer and meters installation in Ogbogwu, went to Awka and donated N5 million for Governor Soludo’s campaign without our consent. He has been peddling a false rumour that fake drugs have returned to Ogbogwu market and that most of the cartels are found within the market”, among other sins and evils.

‎The group Leader, Ifejiofor told newsmen shortly after the exercise that Chukwulota Ndubuisi as a caretaker committee chairman who supposed to stay for at least three to six months in power before conducting a proper election but he has stayed nearly four years now and still boasting that he has not yet completed his tenure.

‎Also speaking one after the other, Mr. Benjamin Ikebata (Senator) and Comrade Sunday Ezeigwe declared: “When Chukwulota was appointed, he promised to organize election in the market within three months; but here we are. In the past when government appointed people into caretaker position, Chukwulota was always at the forefront of agitating against it. Now that he was appointed, he has refused to go, and has refused to organize proper election.”

‎”When NAFDAC invaded our market in February, 2025, we suggested to the chairman on how we will team up as traders and approach the matter but he refused and also, at the course of the invasion at the market, NAFDAC sent a letter through their platform without letterhead, we pleaded with him to go through the document before signing or to invite a professional lawyer to look at it before signing for the benefit of people in the market but he refused”.

‎”Sometimes, the chairman would wake up in the morning and lock up peoples’ shops, accusing them of one thing or the other, “Ifekiofor was part of the team instituted as caretaker committee but due to the chairman’s autocratic leadership, he resigned”, said Ikebata and Ezeigwe.

‎”After NAFDAC closed the market on February 9, 2025. We resumed trading fully in July. Shortly after we resume, the chairman called the traders to pay arrears of security levy, meanwhile securities were not in the market during the period of invasion as NAFDAC arrested and moved our security to Armed barracks where they detained inside guardroom until they were taken on bail by the chairman of Bridgehead market, Chief Ezekwike.

They said that the market transformer spoilt in January, 2025, and there was no power supply in the market for months and now he called a meeting, telling the traders to pay arrears of electricity bills they did not consume.

‎”Chukwulota does not listen to traders in the market rather he listens to the Chief of Staff to the governor; Special Adviser to the governor on parks and Markets and to the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, thereby using them against traders sometimes and this is why we formed this group, ‘Justice for Ogbogwu”‘

‎”Just yesterday, Chukwulota announced on the platform that he cut off cables and wires connecting power supply to the parts of the market, claiming that the traders didn’t pay their electricity bulls; yet, he refused to account on how he spent money we contributed before now.

Before Chukwulota assumed office, pharmaceutical companies that supply drugs to the traders in the market used to pay the sum N360,000 to the market union, but when Chukwulota came, he “mischievously” increased the levy on the companies to N600,000 per truck load of supply; forcing the companies to change their minds on supplying their products directly to the market”.

‎”Just last week, we saw on the social media where our chairman donated a whooping sum of five million naira (N5 milion) for Soludo’s second tenure campaign on behalf of our union without notifying the traders who own the money. Now, when you confront him with all these mischiefs, he would petition NAFDAC that you deal on fake drugs; he would petition police and DSS that you cause breach of public peace.”

No fewer than six executive members among Chukwulota’s caretaker committee resigned because of the chairman’s mischievous and executive excesses.

‎The chairman handles traders as if he handles his house boys; and the affairs of the market as if the handles the affairs of his household. “When NAFDAC invaded our market, the chairman could not do anything. When traders in the market protested against NAFDAC invasion, the chairman called the traders touts, and said they deal on fake drugs. What kind of chairman is that?”,.

‎”The greatest worry of the traders is that Soludo is not interested in addressing the genuine concerns of traders in our market. Our strongest concern is that the Special Adviser to the Governor on Markets, “Mr. Everest Uba, is not interested in listening to the traders, rather he listens to the chairman alone who is his brother, “November 8, 2025 is around the corner. I see Soludo losing the votes of traders in this market because of Chukwulota. From the way he behaves, the chairman cannot convince 10 traders to cast their votes for APGA.”

‎Chukwulota is not competent to lead the market as chairman. When NAFDAC invaded our market, we called on the chairman to go on air to expose what was happening but he refused and at the same time, he refused to contact a good lawyer to defend us against NAFDAC, that was when we realized that he was lacking the courage, learning and experience to lead a market like Ogbogwu”.

‎”You recall that Soludo banned collection of levies from petty traders? Chukwulota collects N4,000 monthly from over 200 widows hawking cooked food in Ogbogwu Market. He designed aprons, and sold to each of the 400 barrow pushers in the market at the sum of N3,500 and he also ordered Barrow pushers union to remit N2m annually to him, until the barrow pushers raised an alarm, he then asked them for forgiveness”.

However, in his swift reaction, Chukwulota who dismissed all the allegations as baseless and unfounded, said some of the opposition members were among the executive of the incumbent caretaker Committee who were sacked by the government when they started demanding that funds generated by the committee should be shared, instead of channeling them to the government coffers as Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.

Chukwulota maintained that he had said it a number of times that most of these opposition people have no shops in the Ogbogwu market, while some of the are fake drugs peddlers, adding that he had alerted security agencies about the clandestine activities of the opponents.

On the issue of over staying his tenure as a caretaker chairmañ, Chukwulota declared: “I am not the only caretaker chairman of a market. Almost all the markets in Anambra state are being ruled by a caretaker Committee and that was the decision of the government”.

Also on the issue of non accountability, donation of N5 million to Governor Soludo’s campaign, disconnection of electricity from some shops and above all his relationship with Soludo and SPAD as fellow indigenes of Isuofia community where Soludo and SPAD hail from, Chukwulota said: “I have always called meeting with traders but these people refuse to attend”.

I disconnected electricity from the shops of those who have not paid their January, 2025 bill. My relationship with Soludo and SPAD is accidental because Soludo became the governor about three years ago but I have been in Ogbogwu for many years and I have held many leadership positions before my appointment three years ago as caretaker chairman”.

“Let me use this medium once more to advise the general public to stop listening to these opposition. Their grouse is that I paid all government revenues into the government coffers, instead of bringing it for us to share as they demanded”, said Chukwulota.