The Ijaw people in Rivers State have restated their commitment to the election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Chief Nyesom Wike, in Saturday’s election.
Ijaws, under the aegis of the Rivers Ijaw Peoples Forum, rising from a meeting held in Port Harcourt on Sunday, also alleged that the last presidential election was an open complicity against the interest of the Ijaw people, the Niger Delta and the South-south geopolitical zone.
The Ijaws said they were forced to take the decision because of the role Wike played in the second term bid of President Goodluck Jonathan and accordingly urged Rivers voters and Ijaws in particular to vote for him and his running mate, Dr Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, “as this team has clearly demonstrated the capacity to unify the State and promote the Ijaw interest.”
The forum, in a communiqué, issued at the end of the meeting, presided over by its Chairman, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, also took a review of the electoral fortune of PDP, under the leadership of Jonathan and concluded that Rivers Ijaws should remain vigilant.
The communiqué, signed by Alabraba, and the Secretary of the forum, Dr. Sylva Opusunju, also came up with other conclusions and decisions, “that the just-concluded presidential and National Assembly elections have raised fresh issues in Nigeria and in particular, the open complicity against the interest of Ijaw People, the Niger Delta and the South-South geo-political zone.
“We acknowledged the strong bond of brotherhood among the people of the Niger Delta and which clearly manifested itself in state at the elections.
They noted with great sadness, that the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state worked against the Niger Delta and the Ijaws in particular when it mattered most and collaborated actively in the conspiracy to scuttle the second term ambition of their Ijaw brother, President Jonathan.
“Rivers APC has therefore lost every right to seek the Ijaw support in the forthcoming elections. The Ijaws should therefore remain vigilant and not be deceived by our detractors whose actions have been detrimental to the Ijaw interest and who preach Ijaw unity only when they need our votes.
“The Rivers Ijaws know who our true sons and friends are and we will stand by them, come April 11.”
In a related development, the Chairman of the Forum of Chiefs and Elders of Port Harcourt State Constituency 11, High Chief Dele Daniel-Kalio, has said Wike would win the governorship election due to his popularity and strong support for PDP in the state.
The Okrika high chief told newsmen that Wike had demonstrated a strong leadership quality in the politics of the state and declared that “Wike will win well and squarely in the forthcoming governorship election.
“This is because he had demonstrated a strong leadership quality in the rebuilding of the state PDP after the incumbent state Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, swept the entirety of PDP over to APC.
“The PDP governorship candidate is personally responsible for PDP as we know it today in the state because he single-handedly rebuilt it from the scratch.
“Secondly, he is a very detribalised, fair-minded Rivers man who opposed his main rival, an Ijaw man, who colluded with others to truncate the tenure of the first Ijaw president.
He is a trusted, capable leader and very popular. Wike has gone to all the nooks and crannies of the state to campaign, included places like motor parks, market squares among other places. He is a very popular candidate. For these and more other reasons, he will win squarely the governorship race in state,” he said.
