Posted by The Port Harcourt Telegraph on
The Eastern Zone of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, has split, with the major groups in an election year going their way.
The Eastern Zone of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, has split, with the major groups in an election year going their way.
Reports reaching our news desk say it may not be unconnected with the groundwork being done by the Kimse Okoko campaign organization.
Okoko is reportedly a candidate of Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State, and insiders in the eastern zone allege that the "Ijaw Messiah" might be the one providing the financial muscle that has pitched Ijaws of the east against each other.
Until, Alamieyeseigha's antics in support of the Central zone from where he hails became manifest, key INC presidential candidates in the eastern zone had taken is alleged support seriously.
Chief Nemi Adoki, one of the aspirants was Alamieyeseigha's teacher at the University of Science and Technology.
Adoki is being accused at present as a sell-out, an obvious reference to claims that he may be hijacked by Governor Peter Odili if he wins.
In fact, one of Alamieyeseigha's aides spoke in such a contemptuous manner at a recent meeting
Yet, in discrediting Adoki, Charles Harry, another front runner in the eastern zone who is well acquainted with Governor Alamieyeseigha has really not received the green light from Yenagoa either.
It is doubtful that with Alamieyeseigha throwing is weight around, the eastern zone would realize its ambition within the INC.
Split in the middle by what might appear to be the selfish agenda of some eastern zone delegates, trapped in the web being spurn by the self acclaimed Governor-General of the Niger Delta, the eastern zone might prove no match in the election to come.
All the signs are that Professor Kimse Okoko is most likely to return as INC president.
Under his watch as INC president, the INC has become almost a parastatal under the Bayelsa state government.
Most core INC activists are disappointed this is so.
They say they have always wanted to ensure that politicians do not hijack the INC and its leadership.
Some how, the INC's delegates wait for a date for elections to be fixed, only problem is, Okoko is not the one fixing it as we hear from the grapevine.