* Say exclusion of Ijaw in Warri North unconstitutional
Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba
Ijaws of Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State have demanded that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori should nominate a person of Ijaw ethnic extraction as commissioner and member of the State Executive Council because Ijaw was not included in the governor’s list of nominees from the area sent to the state legislature last week.
They said that such demand has become inevitable in the light of the fact that the Egbema-Ijaw of Warri North have been denied representation in the Delta State Executive Council since the local government area was created more than 30 years ago, despite the fact that the area comprises Ijaw and Itsekiri ethnic groups.
This was one of the demands made at the press conference organised by the collegiate leadership of Egbema Integrity Group (EIG) and Egbema Youth Council (EYC) on the nomination of two (Itsekiri) commissioners from Warri North by Governor Oborevwori to the exclusion of the Ijaw, held in Warri.
The leaders, in a press statement signed by Francis Abulu, for the leadership of Egbema Integrity Group (EIG); Comrade City Kelvin Eferusua, President Egbema Youth Council (EYC); Mr. Ekpokeme Governor, Secretary of Egbema Youth Council (EYC), warned that the people could no longer stomach the injustice against them, which Governor Oborevwori seems bent on continuing the unjust treatment by this attempt to shut them out.
Specifically, they demanded that the state government should “reverse the decision and appoint an Egbema Ijaw into the State Executive Council” and, secondly, it should “Convene a meeting of Egbema Leaders to resolve the impasse, whichever comes first.”
“Justice demands that if an appointment of a commissioner from Warri North should be considered, then that person must be an Ijaw. This is because since the creation of Warri North Local Government Area, it has always been Itsekiri occupying the position at the State Executive Council. Not until toward the end of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s second term in office was an Ijaw, Hon. Joel Bisina, made commissioner for six months!
“We the Egbema people have suffered political oppression and injustice in Warri North Local Government Area for too long. The Ijaw of Warri North have been denied the position of House of Assembly Member since 1991 when the local government council was created (inclusive of the inception of democracy in 1999) till date.
They accused the governor of giving the Itsekiri two commissioner slots in order not to offend two opposing Itsekiri groups within the PDP in Warri North, led by two party chieftains, while leaving the Ijaw without a nominee at all.
The governor’s two commissioner-nominees for Warri North Local Government Area are Ms Orode Uduaghan and Dr. Issac Wiliky, both of Itsekiri ethnic nationality.
The Ijaw leaders said that the action of Governor Oborevwori was a clear case of injustice against Egbema-Ijaw of Warri North, which was unconstitutional.
“What we see is that the governor is pleasing two contending forces of Itsekiri ethnic group, between the former Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Michael Diden (a.k.a. Ejele) whose case is in the tribunal, by unwittingly making the Ijaws the guinea pig or scapegoat. We are, and remain, equal owners and stakeholders of the council area with four wards! So, rewarding a people with six wards with two commissioners without considering the people with four wards is an act of injustice, a heinous offence crying to Heaven for redress and roundly condemnable.
“We demand to know the rationale for this unholy decision. The action of the governor violates Chapter II, Section 14 subsection 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). The two commissioners nominees are: Ms. Erode Uduaghan and Dr. Isaac Wiliky, both Itsekiris from Warri North. Injustice is the bedrock of political conflict. Where the likes of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Ejele (Diden) want everything, they should be courageous enough to demand their own homogeneous local government. We can only vote to increase their voting strength but not good for appointments!?”
While reminding the governor that Ijaw communities in Warri North are host to at least five major oil producing companies, the Egbema-Ijaw leaders vowed to use every legal means available to them to halt oil exploration and production in their communities unless their grievances were satisfactorily addressed.
“As a major oil producing kingdom, we are host to Opuekeba Flowstation operated by Chvroven, with production capacity of 20,000 barrels per day; Opuama Flotation operated by NPDCL, with production capacity of 18,000 barrels per day; Chvroven Nigeria Limited in (RMP 17) Olero Field; CONOIL Producing Limited OML 103 (undergoing drilling).
“Consequently, if we are not good enough to be where our God-given wealth will be shared in the state, we will do all within our powers legally to halt oil operations, where this monumental injustice is not addressed. Where there is injustice, rebellion is a lawful duty,” they warned.
While lamenting the failure of the new governor to honour an earlier letter by the Egbema-Ijaw leaders asking for a meeting, they said that “this action of the governor is clearly to perpetuate and escalate the political overpowering of the Ijaws of Warri North so that they can be kept under by the other ethnic group in the local government area.”
“Egbema leaders wrote the governor, H.E. Sheriff Oborevwori, a letter for a meeting but it was not considered, apparently because we are only good at turning in our votes massively during elections but cannot share in the proceeds therefrom. The disposition of the governor in alienating the Ijaws of Warri North from executive office shows he does not understand the political calibration of the state he is voted to govern,” they stated.
“The state government appears to be interested in the enormous oil resources from Ijaw communities as well as the votes that turn during every election, and not in their well-being and progress,” they said, asking why the governor should seek to please and pamper the Itsekiri to the detrimental of the Ijaw in Warri North, they further said.
“The votes that he got in Warri North did not come from the Itsekiris alone. It was a collective vote! The Ijaw four federal wards as against Itsekiri six federal wards were claimed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Ijaws overwhelmingly voted for H.E. Sheriff Oborevwori as governor. So, on what basis was this decision to exclude the Ijaw completely in Warri North made?”
