Ijaw youth clash over IYC leadership

Two factions of Ijaw youths clashed yesterday over the authentic leadership of Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide (IYC).

Pereotubo Oweilami, who leads a faction, asked his counterpart, Mr. Eric Omare, to stop parading himself as president of IYC.

In a statement by the faction’s spokesman, Daniel Dasimaka, the group said the Ijaw nation as well as Ijaw youths knew Oweilami as their president.

But Omare in a statement said: “I, Eric Omare, is the legitimate president of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide elected in accordance with the Constitution of the IYC at Burutu, Delta State on March 1. Any other person parading himself is just acting out of impunity, which must stop.”

He said he emerged as IYC president through an election conducted at Burutu in accordance with the IYC constitution and established electoral practice and procedure.

“I was elected on March 1 at Burutu. But on March 6, they went to Okirika to set up another electoral committee to conduct another election. My election was supervised by the former president, Udengs Eradiri.

“When they set up another electoral committee five days after my election, I went to court to stop the election. Then, they came to court and agreed that they would not conduct another election. But in April, they held another election.

“Within the period, they filed a case that I should not parade myself, but they didn’t follow up the case and it was struck out. The case I filed challenging their legitimacy is still in court. Who is the impostor?

“If the case I filed against them is still in court, what is their basis for referring to me as an impostor?

Omare said on March 15 when some former leaders and stakeholders of IYC went to Okrika in Rivers State to hold a convention and set up an electoral committee to conduct election on April 9, the tenure of the Udengs-led exco had finished.He said based on the constitution and following the judgment of the court, which confirmed that the three-year tenure of the Udengs-led executive expired on March 2, a new leadership was expected to take over on that date.

“Therefore, at the time the Okrika parallel convention took place, the tenure of the Udengs-led exco had expired; hence aggrieved members of the Udengs-led exco had no power whatsoever to call for a parallel convention”.

But Dasimaka said Omare had no right to parade himself as IYC president.

He said: “The attention of IYC has been called to the activities of former spokesman of the council, Eric Omare, who goes about parading himself to the unsuspecting public as the president of IYC.