Eastern zonal elections tragedy not due to candidate support

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The president of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Jonathan Lokpobiri, has denied rumours that the tragedy that marred the Eastern Zonal Elections of the council in Abuloma Town, Rivers State, where scores of youths were feared dead resulted from his support for a candidate against Gov. Siminilaye Fubara.

Addressing newsmen at the NUJ Press Centre in Yenagoa, Lokpobiri said he had no intention to impose candidates; rather, he provided a level playing field for all candidates, which was misinterpreted by a section of leaders that accused him of plotting to install a candidate loyal to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike.

Lokpobiri, who was accompanied by members of his executive, zonal, and chapter chairmen, said, as IYC President, he had no interest in the election, adding that he warned all candidates and officials that they are under oath to support all Ijaw sons and daughters, including Gov. Fubara.

He said, “On the eve of the election, I summoned a stakeholder meeting with all candidate elders and all stakeholders, including the expanded NEC. Many IYC and INC leaders were also present at the Zonal Election Committee. ZECO was formally invited to brief the house so that all the issues would be addressed, and everybody gathered except these four young men, and then the meeting continued.

“The ZECO briefed the house that they have three chairmanship candidates cleared for the election and have secured Abuluoma for the new alternative venue because of the shortness of time to get the Port Harcourt Civic Centre and that the election will also be by open ballot process. Also, in terms of the voting pattern, every clan will have four delegates, which they had published earlier with the electoral guidelines, and it will be conducted by 21 clan bases.

“But something happened at the meeting: one Kalabari leader who is an INC executive raised the issue that they have agreed as Kalabari leaders that their leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, has chosen a candidate through an internal election amongst themselves, and they as the leaders have chosen one Datolo as the sole candidate for the chairmanship position, so the rest of the people must not be allowed to do this election.

“They were angry that Alhaji Dokubo had taken a decision, and some young men from the same clan are opposing that decision, and they said that they concluded that if the decision to install their sole candidate, whom they have communicated through a letter, is not taken, they will boycott the election.

“It was at that point Mama Ankio Briggs told them that what they were doing was not right and that election is not war and if you have a candidate, campaign for your candidate; if they don’t win today, they will win tomorrow; that they cannot force a candidate down the throat of other Kalabari sons and daughters; that the IYC cannot function that way.

“I spoke and said I have tremendous respect for Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who has mentored many of our people, including myself, and that I have no interest in the election. I denounced the story making the rounds that if some persons are elected, they will not support Governor Sim Fubara. I used that platform to formally warn candidates who are in the race that they have no choice. Anyone elected as chairman of the Eastern Zone or anybody elected as an official of IYC has no power to think that they have the choice to decide whether or not they will support Gov. Fubara.

“I said we are all bound by duty to morally, and in obligation we took as our oath to protect all sons and daughters of the Ijaw nation, so let us dispel this rumour that some people will not work for Fubara.

“For the purpose of clarity, I was the one that went to speak to our leader Alhaji Asari to support Fubara at the initial time, so this story that I am no longer the same person who supported Fubara and am working for Wike is an argument I consider quite shallow, but that all sons and daughters of Kalabari have a right to contest the election if they so wish.

“Immediately after the meeting, I saw a viral video where Alhaji Asari said that he supported me to be IYC President and that I have now gone to collect money from Wike to coronate a candidate for Wike to fight Gov. Fubara, and as far as he is concerned, he will not allow a Wike candidate to contest the election and that the election will not hold. I continued to beg him, and I called his wife, who is a sister and a friend, to please speak to her husband, which she did.”

He said when it appeared that a particular candidate was losing, they called gunmen to invade the venue and unleash mayhem.

On the choice of Abuloma, Lokpobiri said, “The question is, is Abuluma not an Ijaw community? If it is an Ijaw community, what makes it so difficult that they don’t have the right to host an IYC convention that was meant to be peaceful? If for any reason anyone disagrees with the methods, are there no other means of resolving these issues? These are questions that I want the public to know.

“I want to tell the world that neither the venue nor the method of election I choose, the ZECO, is empowered by Congress and council in general, and therefore, in honour of my integrity for the election, I allowed them. We have upheld the election that produced the chairman even though it came under very questionable circumstances because of the violence that was meted out to Ijaw people.

“My appeal here is that this is not meant to indict anybody, but it is to set the record straight so that the public does not vilify us for not doing anything because, for the purpose of healing the wounds, we choose to be quiet and silent in order to work towards the healing process with falsehood having dominated the whole place.

“Therefore it became necessary to inform the world that this is what led to the numbers of deaths with several people and properties destroyed, and as of yesterday, the king’s house was invaded by the community youths of Abuloma for inviting IYC and death to their community.”

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