The Council of Ijaw Traditional Rulers and Elders (CETRI) has called on the Ijaw Nation to disregard any election purportedly conducted by Professor Benjamin Okaba and the electoral body of Ijaw National Congress (INC), saying the Ijaw Nation has not done her election yet.
New Telegraph recalls that Professor Benjamin Okaba, the outgoing President of INC and the ELECO, had conducted an election against the advice of CETRI that the election be suspended for now.
But Okaba had gone ahead to conduct the election on the 13th of April, 2026, alleging that the court had ordered him to do so.
Speaking on Thursday in Yenagoa during a Press Brief to set the records straight, the Chairman of CETRI, HRM, King Bubaraye Dakolo Agada IV, Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, declared that the Ijaw Nation has not got a new President, maintaining that there was no INC election in the first place.
Authenticating the power of CETRI, King Dakolo maintained that CETRI has all first-class traditional rulers in Ijaw land as part of it, all gazetted heads of clans, also kings, ambassadors, governors, former governors and deputy governors of states.
“All former Presidents of Ijaw National Congress, ten selected leaders of the Clergy, ten selected distinguished leaders of the industry, all Vice Chancellors of Universities past and present, all past speakers of Assembly, all senators and senior advocates of Niger, all chief judges of the states.
“Former secretaries at the federal level, and then all retired generals. So if you are a Brigadier General or equivalent and above, you are an automatic member. All former presidents and vice presidents, so good luck, Jonathan, and all are members of CETRI.
“So I am representing that body. Now the Constitution of INC has given us certain functions, which are like the functions of a judiciary, to adjudicate, to settle disputes amongst Ijaws, amongst the various organs of the Ijaw National Congress.
” So if individuals in the Ijaw nation have differences, disputes, and they report to the National Executive Council, for instance, the National Executive Council could refer to CETRI, and the body will resolve that dispute. So also inter-clan disputes, inter-communal disputes, and inter-individual disputes as well.
“Our function is to ensure that the Ijaw nation remains intact and develops, taking everybody along peacefully
“So I appointed the last Eleco for the elections into the National Executive Council, and I signed their appointment letters. So if there are disputes arising from elections, it is CITRE’s responsibility to resolve them and to avoid doubt, an election is a process.”
Disclosing how CETRI helped Okaba to come into power, the CETRI Chairman narrated:” I should start this way and also let you know that for some years before President Okaba came on board, there were issues with the INC leadership. There were lots of litigations.
“And so for so many years, almost more than five years, there was some kind of impasse in the journey, and so CITRE had to step in and manage all of these differences. I was part of a committee myself. And at the end of the day, we resolved all those differences.
“So CETRI superintended over that process, and we got the outgoing NEC, which is Professor Okaba. Okaba and his executive are direct beneficiaries of CITER’s position.”
As a buildup to the crisis on the ground, some candidates and even non-aspirants had approached CETRI with loads of petitions citing so many discrepancies, the reason why CETRI suspended the election.
CETRI Chairman said: “Because I had foreseen that if they don’t manage that process well, we may end up with likely violence during elections and then a likely litigation that may stop the elections or bring fractionalization. And I felt that none of these would be good for the Ijaw nation.
“So at every stage, I went into robust conversations with these people because one of the candidates came with a court injunction, and other candidates also went to court. And so with the court injunction and so on, the election was not held on the 7th of March, 2026.
“And then a committee was formed, a seven-man committee, which I headed, to resolve all the issues. Of course, petitioners were given an opportunity to say what their grievances were, and they did so. So like I said before, the NEC itself was being accused, the NEC president was being accused, Eleco was being accused, and then there were issues about delegates.”
Maintaining that all those prompted the suspension of the election, CETRI Chairman advised all to disregard the acclaimed new INC President in the person of MacDonald Igbadiwei.
He assured that he is actually the person to inaugurate the new President of INC when the right thing is done.
“So CETRI’s position on all of these is that there was no election in the first place. As far as CETRI is concerned, there was no election on the 13th of April, 2026, because the appointor had already directed that everything be frozen.
“CETRI had said there should be no election, and CETRI believes that there was no election. And I believe that everybody complied, and if a few never complied, then they should bear the consequences of not complying.” The CETRI Chairman narrated.
