Amidst the controversies trailing the 2026 Ijaw National Congress (INC) election, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has declared that he has no preferred candidate for the position of president of the foremost Ijaw organization.
Gov. Diri stated this on Friday during the 2026 INC national convention at the Ijaw House in Yenagoa.
He implored his kinsmen not to relent on the demand for creation of two additional states out of the three the ethnic group originally agitated for.
Gov. Diri restated his advocacy for the practice of true and fiscal federalism in the country, noting that the present lopsided structure could be best described as “unitary federalism.”
He contended that states, including Bayelsa, would be better developed if they controlled one hundred per cent of their resources and pay tax to the federal government.
He said: “Today, we have one state (Bayelsa). The INC, under the leadership of Chief Joshua Fumudoh, asked for three, which are Oil Rivers, Bayelsa and Toru-Ibe States.
“This means we have two additional states that must be pursued by the Ijaw nation and the INC. So, it is not yet uhuru.
This is a struggle we must continue and if we cannot achieve it in our time, we will hand it over to our children.
“Our land and waters have nourished this nation and fuelled its economic activities and yet, for too long, we have borne the unfortunate environmental damage and social disadvantage.
“Economic inequities, environmental degradation and infrastructural neglect remain our pressing challenges that require our local and national resolve to redress.
” The challenges we face are formidable but l have no doubt that our sons and daughters possess the resilience and indomitable spirit to overcome them.”
He advised contestants for the various positions in Saturday’s election to bear in mind that the major task ahead of them was the overriding interest of the ethnic nationality, rather than their personal considerations.
The governor commended the outgoing INC President, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, and his executive council members for their leadership, particularly its partnership with government at ensuring a formal admission of the Ijaw nation into the United Nations’ Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation.
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He charged the incoming leadership to continue the task of reviving Ijaw cultural values and language and ensure that the dreams of the founding fathers were achieved.
In his address, Prof. Benjamin Okaba called for strategic global engagement in the Ijaw struggle, saying that the ethnic nationality remains Nigeria’s economic backbone despite years of neglect.
He advocated for a shift from protest-driven advocacy to stronger global engagement, and described the gathering as a milestone for leadership renewal and a re-assessment of the organisation’s direction.
Prof. Okaba equally noted that despite being a major contributor to Nigeria’s oil-driven economy, the Ijaw nation continues to suffer environmental degradation and infrastructure neglect.
The INC President announced new strategic initiatives, including a territorial mapping project aimed at digitally documenting Ijaw ancestral lands to support environmental monitoring and resource negotiations.
As part of efforts to strengthen unity, he said the INC has registered 15 affiliate groups to work together in amplifying the Ijaw voice on national and international platforms.
