•Eric Omare’s election followed due process- Udengs Eradiri, former president
•There’ was no election – Dokubo-Asari, Toudolo, Ekiyor, John-John, others
•Elders, leaders must be respected – High Chief Mike Loyibo

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South and Perez Brisibe

IJAW  Youth Council, IYC, the parasol body of youths of Ijaw ethnic nationality, spread across Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Ondo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, is on fire.

The trouble is over the headship of the body, which until recently was led by Mr. Udengs Eradiri. Eradiri whose tenure expired March 2, superintended over a convention and handed over to the former spokesman of the council, Mr. Eric Omare, who emerged as president after an election.

But, his purported impudence in fixing and overseeing an election, which all the founding presidents and elders of the organization, including Alhajir Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Dr. Chris Ekiyor, Felix Tuodolo, Elder T. K Ogoriba, stood against rankled not a few.

Already, the confusion is escalating,   as there were rumblings by some rival Ijaw youths when the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, visited Benin City, Edo state, on Monday, when Omare stormed the Benin City Airport in Edo state, to receive him.

Patani meeting

Prior to the March 2 convention at Burutu that produced Omare, Dokubo-Asari and others invited Eradiri to a stakeholders’ meeting at Patani, hosted by Dr. Ekiyor, who is Eradiri’s predecessor, where they directed him to suspend his planned March 2 convention. Their grounds were that the emergence of two electoral committees for the 2017 IYC National Electoral Convention, one inaugurated by Eradiri and the other, by his opponents was a recipe for anarchy.

They not only ordered that the two electoral committees be aborted in interest of peace and unity of the Ijaw people, the leaders said the election should be put on hold and called    on security operatives to stop the conduct by both sides.

Eradiri calls the bluff, blasts Asari

Eradiri, however, dismissed the threat of the former presidents, going ahead with his March 2 convention that produced a 10-man executive with Eric Omare as president.

Speaking to Saturday Vanguard on the activities of Asari and his group, Udengs Eradiri, who questioned the powers of the former presidents to interfere in the proceedings of the IYC, said: “Rubbish! IYC has moved beyond Asari, we are a law- abiding institution that is governed by a constitution. Besides, he (Asari) is above 45 years, hence he is no more a member of the IYC.”

Dokubo-Asari

“No decision taken any where can override the national convention, so if anyone has any suggestion as to how council can be strengthened to better serve the Ijaw nation, they should bring such suggestions to the national convention, which is the highest authority and decision- making organ as stipulated by the Ijaw Youth Council constitution,”  he said.

Eradiri, who promised to send Saturday Vanguard a copy of the IYC Constitution, insisted that the convention and election of Omare followed the rules and that no other person, except him as then president, had the right to call a convention of the council.

He , however, explained:    “I have some personal issues with Asari. Before the election, he went to national television to say that there would be crisis if Jonathan lost. I went to the same national television to say no, what we need are votes. Now, Jonathan lost the election, how many wars has he fought in this regard?

“Everyone wants to use the IYC struggle for their personal benefit and my administration has been in the forefront for this struggle. What this portends for the Niger Delta region is that the government would not know who to liaise with in discussing the Niger Delta issue.    We have written to the authorities as an institution that those,    who are parading themselves as IYC executives are fraudulent, criminals and they should be dealt with accordingly,” he asserted.

Asari roars back

Speaking on the Burutu convention, which produced Omare as president, Dokubo-Asari simply retorted: “Eric Omare is not the IYC president, there was no election. I do not think that a handful of people, who were not elected in the first place, would dictate the affairs of Ijaw people.”

“A group of people cannot just come to use the platform other than the reason for which it was setup. IYC is not a socio-cultural youth organization. Several people have died with communities destroyed because of the activities of IYC.   It is very unfortunate that someone like Eric Omare, who has a very good fortune of becoming IYC president, is squandering it,” he added.

He said: “We are going ahead with a proper election and anyone that goes to court to procure any dubious judgment is on his own. We would take back the organization for the good of our people and anyone who does not like it can go and form his own organization.”

We’ll resolve problem- Omare

Commenting on the brewing crisis, Omare noted: “It is not a good one for the people of the Niger Delta. This is not the first time such issues are coming up, but the Ijaw nation has the capacity to resolve it. So it will definitely be resolved. As I speak with you, critical stakeholders are meeting and talking and people are currently cross-fertilizing ideas on how to resolve matter.”

He told Saturday Vanguard: “When Dokubo-Asari was elected, there were issues and those issues were resolved, the same thing happened when John Oyefa of Central zone was elected. There were also issues too when Udengs Eradiri was elected.”

Okrika counter coup

Following the Burutu convention, elders, leaders and founding fathers of IYC converged at Okrika in Rivers state on March 5 where far-reaching decisions were taken to torpedo the processes that led to the emergence of Omare.

Among them were former presidents of the council, Dr Tuodolo, Dokubo- Asari, Elder John John and Dr Ekiyor, Comrade Famous Daunamogha stakeholders, Elder T K Ogoriba, Niger Delta activist, Ms Annkio Briggs, all members of Ijaw National Congress, INC, the parent body of IYC.

In a special announcement after the meeting, they said: “We the founding fathers of IYC , other youth bodies of the ljaw nation and the INC,    which is the parents body of IYC,  unanimously resolve to dissolve the Electoral bodies    that were set up in the name of Ufuoma Convention,    which the former president and his spokesman is claiming to be authentic constitution of IYC and the Ebeni Convention,    which the other faction is claiming to be the authentic constitution of IYC is hereby disbanded and    dissolved for the sake of peace and unity of the ljaw nation,”

Furthermore,    the elders declared that IYC does not have    president and national executive members yet, urging the public to disregard the convention, March 2 and 3 in Burutu, adding that an all-inclusive Electoral Committee, already put in place, would    conduct a free and fair election within three weeks to fill the    national executive positions of IYC.

“We, the elders, leaders and other critical stakeholders call on the security agencies of the country to treat anybody or group of persons parading themselves as IYC president and national executive members as common criminal(s),” they added.

The elders must be respected,    says High Chief Loyibo

Convener of the Niger Delta People Congress, NPDC, a pan-Nigeria group, High Chief Mike Ekayama Loyibo, who spoke to this paper on the feud said: “A critical meeting of stakeholders was held in Patani to foster a solution to the crisis. The executive led by the former president of the council and the Electoral Committee (ELECO) were disbanded and we all agreed to call for another meeting that will enable us put in place a structure to work with organs of council in line with the constitution and transitional arrangement towards a smooth and orderly conduct of elections into offices across clans, chapter and zones whose tenure have expired.

“I was unable to personally attend the two conventions because of other pressing national issues. It amounts to insult on the elders and leaders for the former president to go ahead and organize elections in total disregard to the peaceful path being canvassed by the elders,” he said.

His words: “I stand by the Okirika convention, the elders and leaders do not have anything against both major candidates for the presidency of the IYC, Barrister Eric Omare and Barrister Oweilaemi Pereotubo. They are young, dynamic, competent and brilliant men. The only thing we insist on is following the constitution.”

“The elders and leaders have intervened and this must be followed. Even the former president was a product of the elders’ intervention when there was a leadership crisis, three years ago. Why is he now insisting on going outside the constitution to do his own thing? Nobody is bigger than the Ijaw Nation and we must come together to move the IYC forward,” he said.