The Movement for the Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) has raised alarm over selective disqualification of some candidates in the 2026 Ijaw National Congress Elections.
Dr. Kennedy Tonjo West
National President, MOSIEND in a statement on Tuesday urged Ijaw stakeholders to salvage the INC from impending doom over unfair disqualification of credible candidates in the election slated for March 7.
MOSIEND hereby alerts the entire Ijaw nation to the grave and unfolding danger posed by the manipulation of the 2026 Ijaw National Congress (INC) electoral process.
What is currently presented as an election is, in substance, a carefully orchestrated exercise capable of undermining the very foundation upon which the INC was established.
The integrity of the institution is at stake.
MOSIEND states unequivocally that the purported disqualification of respected and widely accepted frontline candidates—particularly Elder T. K. Ogoriba—exposes what many now regard as a predetermined attempt to impose weak leadership on the Ijaw nation through technical contrivances rather than democratic choice.
The justification advanced for this exclusion, including the alleged one-year membership requirement, is legally questionable, morally indefensible, and politically provocative. A constitution that has not been duly ratified by a properly constituted National Congress lacks both the moral and legal authority to determine eligibility. To deploy such an instrument selectively against credible contenders is to weaponize procedure against democracy.
The Ijaw nation is too historically grounded and politically conscious to be misled by procedural technicalities designed to achieve predetermined outcomes. Elder Ogoriba represents a generation of patriots whose sacrifices predate the institutionalization of the INC. To exclude such a figure is an attempt to rewrite the history of the Ijaw struggle and sever the organization from its ideological roots.
This development reinforces growing fears that a narrow circle of entrenched interests has reduced the INC to a closed establishment where leadership is rotated among familiar actors through questionable arrangements. No institution survives when its processes are perceived as manipulated and its credibility is compromised.
MOSIEND further notes, with deep concern, the troubling silence of key stakeholders, including governors of Ijaw states and the outgoing INC President, Benjamin Ogele Okaba. MOSIEND is aware of the strides of the Governor of Bayelsa State, Sen. Douye Diri, who emerged from the struggle platform and played a foundational role in Ijaw grassroots mobilization. At moments of institutional strain, silence is often interpreted as consent.
The moral authority expected at this defining moment must not be absent. We reckon that if this flawed process proceeds unchecked, the consequences will be severe and enduring, as the INC remains the most important unifying institution of the Ijaw people. Any process that erodes public confidence is a direct threat to the collective future of the Ijaw nation.
Our unity as a people cannot survive institutional injustice.
Leadership produced through manipulated processes will lack the moral authority required to represent the Ijaw people credibly at national and international levels. The INC must produce a President recognized by the people as their authentic voice, not one manufactured through procedural exclusion.
If the election proceeds under present circumstances, the outcome will be widely rejected and remembered as one of the most controversial episodes in the history of the INC.
This could lead to:
A total loss of credibility for the INC
Protracted litigations
The emergence of parallel leadership structures
Deepened distrust among the Ijaw people
Institutional fragmentation and long-term internal instability
MOSIEND DEMANDS IMMEDIATE CORRECTIVE ACTION
To avert a historic crisis within the Ijaw nation, MOSIEND calls for urgent intervention:
Immediate Dissolution of the Electoral Committee:
The present committee has lost the confidence of a significant segment of stakeholders and has demonstrated insufficient sensitivity to the unity and stability of the Ijaw nation.
Immediate Postponement of the INC Elections:
Proceeding under the prevailing atmosphere of distrust will only delegitimize the outcome.
Convening of an Emergency National Stakeholders Engagement to:
Determine the legal validity of the 2019 Constitution.
Establish a broadly acceptable electoral framework.
Appoint a neutral and credible Electoral Committee.
These measures are safeguards, not obstacles.
The greatest threat to the INC today is not postponement; the greatest threat is a discredited election.
A FINAL WORD TO THE LEADERS OF THE IJAW NATION
The responsibility before today’s leadership is historic. The INC was built by patriots who sacrificed comfort and safety for the collective future of the Ijaw people. No individual or group has the right to manipulate that collective destiny.
History will record whether unity was defended or expediency prevailed. The Ijaw nation is watching. The conscience of the struggle is awake.
This is not a time for imposed leadership. This is not a time for elite endorsements. This is a time for legitimacy. The Ijaw nation must not be betrayed.
Some members of the Rtd Justice F. F. Tabai led INC ELECO had on Saturday before releasing the list of cleared candidates maintained that they will be guided by the INC constitution.
The ELECO disqualified Elder Timi Kaiser Ogoriba from the Presidential category of the Ijaw National Congress as his name was missing from the list of cleared candidates.
Ogoriba had earlier dismissed speculations on his disqualification as ‘drad on arrival’ and asserted his eligibility having satisfied the requirements of the INC constitution.
