ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has lauded Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike over the emergence of the immediate past Accountant General of the state, Siminaliayi Fubara, as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 polls.
Fubara, an Ijaw man from Opobo Kingdom in Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State, emerged candidate with a total of 721 votes, defeating Isaac Kamalu who polled 86 votes, George Kelly, 37 votes and Felix Obuah, the party’s immediate past chairman, who scored only two votes.
Spokesman for the IYC, Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe, in a statement on Thursday, described Fubara’s emergence as fulfillment of the long desire of ijaws to have a sense of belonging, fairness and equity in the political affairs of the state.
Ekerefe congratulated all those who were in the struggle for a riverine Ijaw governorship.
He called on all other political parties to take a cue from the decision of Wike and the PDP delegates and stakeholders if they wanted to have any desirable impact during the coming 2023 elections in the state.
He, however, maintained the IYC’s rift with Wike was not personal, but borne out of the controversies surrounding the arrest and incarceration of an Ijaw son, Farah Dagogo.
The IYC had condemned the subsequent outbursts of the governor on the Ijaw nation on the pulpit over their call for the immediate release of Dagogo who is representing Degema/Bonny federal constituency in the National Assembly.
Ekerefe called on Wike to in the spirit of rapprochement, forget the past and immediately release Dagogo from incarceration and tender and unreserved apology to the Ijaw nation for the “Thunder Fire You”
comment on the pulpit of the Almighty God as a sign of good faith.
He insisted that IYC is non-partisan, but swore to protect the fundamental best interest of the Ijaw nation no matter how difficult it could be.