Tejiri Ebikeme
A Warri based lawyer and spokesman aspirant, Eric Omare, for the just concluded Ijaw Youths Council (IYC, Worldwide) elections, has kicked against the outcome of the election, calling on President Goodluck Jonathan and other prominent Ijaws to wade into the matter.
He said in a press statement that as an Aspirant for the position of Spokesman in the IYC National Elections, I feel obliged to issue this press statement in view of the unfolding developments and near disintegration of the umbrella body of all Ijaw Youths.
According to him “The Ijaw Youth Council elections were slated for Monday October 28, 2013 at Ijaw Ware, Yenagoa. When the list of delegates for the election was released it was observed that the delegate list was altered by members of the Electoral Committee to exclude legitimate Clan delegates and include fictitious names which led to an initial protest at Ijaw Ware, Yenagoa during the accreditation of delegates.”
Thereafter, after voting was concluded, Barrister Omare said that “the collation of result on a position by position basis started. The collation was successfully done for the positions of Mobilisation Officer, Treasurer and Woman Leader. However, when it was turn for the collation of the votes for Spokesman, it was observed that the numbers of votes cast were more than the accredited voters. Whereas, the numbers of accredited delegates/voters were 99 (Ninety-Nine), the total number of votes cast was 103 (One Hundred and Three). Similar irregularity was observed with regard to the collation of the result for the Financial Secretary.”
“Hence, there was serious disagreement between the Agents/Aspirants and the members of the Electoral Committee. After, the several hours of argument, it was unanimously agreed that the entire process has lost credibility and the election was accordingly cancelled apart from the election of the Treasurer, Woman Leader and Mobilisation Officer. The cancellation was announced in the full glare of the media by the Chairman of the Eleco, Comrade Sunny Diritolofari at about 9.30pm on 28th of October, 2013 at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa,” he added.
He further added the election for the position of Spokesman, Secretary, Financial Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Deputy President and National President was inconclusive and cancelled.
In his words “It is sad and disheartening that as Ijaw people, we cannot even conduct an election involving only 100 people/delegates and involving only Ijaw people. The inability to conclude the election and the subsequent events have led to a near state of anarchy and total disintegration of the once cohesive Ijaw Youth Council, Worldwide that championed and internationalised the struggle for resource control. Traffic on the East West road was paralysed for most part of Tuesday 29th October, 2013.”
“Therefore, I call on prominent sons and daughters of Ijaw Nation, such as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, National Leader of Ijaw Nation, Chief (Dr) E. K. Clark, Presidential Advisers: Hon. Kingsley Kuku, Oronto Douglas and others to intervene to save the Ijaw Youth Council from total disintegration. If urgent steps are not taken, the IYC in the next few days and weeks would have multiple Presidents, Secretaries, Spokesmen, etc,” he said.
Barrister Omare pointed out that “whoever benefits from this highly flawed process would be carrying on a credibility burden on his head and would lack the moral fibre to question the activities of government and multinationals in the Niger Delta and lead Ijaw people in the struggle for the actualisation of Resource Control and Self Determination for which the IYC was formed.”
