He was impeded from setting foot in the territory covered by Ahiara Diocese; and his May 2013 Episcopal Ordination took place outside Ahiara Diocese, in Nigeria’s Owerri Archdiocese. As Bishop, he was not allowed to access the Diocese, even after Pope Francis, in July 2017, directed all members of Clergy of Ahiara Diocese to pledge fidelity to him in writing, and to express their acceptance of the appointment of then Bishop Okpaleke as their Shepherd.
Having failed to exercise his Episcopal Ministry in the Nigerian Diocese, Bishop Okpaleke made known to Pope Francis his decision to resign in writing. On 19 February 2018, the Holy Father accepted Bishop Okpaleke’s resignation and “relieved him of the pastoral care of the Diocese of Ahiara.” He was later appointed pioneer Bishop of Nigeria’s Ekwulobia Diocese, which had been erected on 5 March 2020.
In his October 17 address, the Auxiliary Bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese said, “Since the announcement on Saturday (October 14), I have received overwhelming acceptance from Nigerians in Imo State and all our brothers and sisters in the diaspora pledging their support for Ahiara Diocese.”
Mons. Nwobi, a native of Ahiara Diocese, recognized the Episcopal Ministry of the predecessor of Cardinal Okpaleke, the late Bishop Victor Adibe Chikwe, who he said “left a Diocese that was robust, a Diocese that was alive until what happened.”
“But we are a new creation now. We are going to work as a team, no victor, no vanquish. We are brothers and we will work that way,” he told members of the Clergy of Ahiara Diocese who paid him a courtesy visit on October 17.
“I want to assure you that we will work together,” the Auxiliary Bishop-elect, who has been assigned the Titular See of Rusguniae further said, and added, “Ahiara Diocese will be alive again. I want to thank you and ask you just for one favor that is prayer. We pray for each other and we will surely laugh again.”
The 63-year-old Nigerian Priest went on to recall the day the news of his Episcopal appointment was broken to him, saying, “I was invited by the Nunciature for a discussion. I came on October 10 and I went straight to the Nunciature.”
“I was told that the Holy Father is asking me to give my consent as Auxiliary Bishop of Ahiara,” Mons. Nwobi further recalled, adding that he burst “into tears because I never expected it.”
The CMF member, who was ordained a Priest in July 1990 continued, “I knew it was going to be a difficult task. I thought about it and I said I am a Religious, a Missionary and I took the vow of obedience and I have never said no to the Church, let alone to the Holy Father.”
“After my tears, I accepted to be with my brothers and sisters in Ahiara Diocese,” he said during his address to members of the Clergy of Ahiara Diocese, who paid him a courtesy visit on October 17, the Nigerian Episcopal See with 453,005 Catholics, according to 2022 statistics.
