Vine Shield Limited, organisers of Igbo Awards and Lolo Igbo Cultural Pageant, have said that the crown of Lolo Enugu 2016 (Queen), Gift Ogbodo Chisom, was revoked was because she violated the terms and conditions of the contract she signed with the company.

In a press statement signed by its Executive Director, Mazi ThankGod Ofoelue, the company said that the terms of agreement were clearly spelt out on the contract document, which the Lolo flouted.

Chisom Ogbodo is among six emergent queens at the November 2016 Cultural Pageant in Enugu. While one of the Lolos was the overall winner who became Lolo Igbo, five other Lolos also emerged to represent the five states of the South East.

According to the statement, parts of the agreement states that winners shall appear in functions as duly invited by the company, shall not contest for any other pageant within the one year contract, carry out her primary project and also source for sponsorship, and use her office to promote Lolo Igbo Cultural Pageant and Igbo Awards.

“But Miss Ogbodo neither met these conditions, nor did she make any attempt to reach out to the company to explain why she did not, or could not meet them. Several attempts were made to get across to her, to no avail.

Decisions have to be taken to ensure that the image of Igbo Awards/Lolo Igbo Cultural Pageant, as well as that of Vine Shield Limited, which invariably is the image of the Igbo brand is protected,” the statement said.

The company also announced that following the revocation of Ogbodo’s crown, a new Lolo has been selected to replace her. It said: “Based on the scoring formula used to determine the winners of the Lolo Igbo pageant, we have selected the person who is closest in point to the last runner up, and that person is Geraldine Chekwube Ugwuanyi. All the rights and privileges of Lolo Enugu shall be accorded her, after she is crowned next week.”

The company further revealed that the crowning will take place on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, the same day the company plans to begin its video and photo shoots with all the Lolos.

Igbo Awards and Lolo Igbo Cultural Pageant were set up in 2015. While Igbo Awards target deserving Igbo sons and daughters who have excelled in different fields of endeavour, to rewards deserving Igbos, the Pageant aims at sustaining the dignity and heritage of the Igbo woman.

Some of the recipients of the awards include Pete Edochie, comedian Uche Ogbuagu, the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, John Okafor, Steve Onu (Yaw), and Professor Barth Nnaji to mention a few.

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