“THE IJAW NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC) ELECTION AND OKABA’S ADHOC COMMITTEE.
PRESS STATEMENT BY IJAW WOMEN: A CALL FOR JUSTICE, ORDER, AND THE DEFENCE OF IJAW INSTITUTIONS
The Ijaw Women of conscience across the homeland and diaspora rise at this defining moment with clarity, courage, and resolve.
We are custodians of life, memory, and moral order. When institutions are bent and processes are distorted, silence becomes complicity. We refuse complicity.
WE REJECT DELIBERATE AMBIGUITY
We have taken note of the announcement of an “Ad Hoc Committee” reportedly constituted on 13th April 2026; the same day as the deeply disputed Ijaw National Congress (INC) national executive elections.
We ask, without equivocation:
Who are the aggrieved parties?
What are the grievances?
Under what constitutional authority does this committee operate?
A committee without defined parties, without stated disputes, and without legal foundation is not conflict resolution. It is institutional camouflage. Ijaw Women reject such devices. Internal dispute resolution constitutionally rests with CITRE; Not an OKABA ad-hoc committee.
THE ISSUE IS LEGITIMACY: NOT PERCEPTION
Let it be clearly stated:
The present crisis arises from:
Breach of due process
Disregard for constitutional order
Actions that have weakened collective trust
This is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of legitimacy.
ON THE ELECTORAL PROCESS
Where serious stakeholders decline participation, legitimacy is fundamentally compromised.
Process is the foundation of authority. Once subverted, outcomes cannot stand.
ON EMERGING PATTERNS OF INFLUENCE
We are constrained by ongoing judicial processes from addressing specific actors. However, we will not ignore patterns that are evident to all discerning observers.
We note with concern the reappearance of non-institutional actors within civic and political spaces where they hold no constitutional role, no electoral mandate, and no accountability framework.
We also recall, clearly and without distortion, that the Niger Delta passed through a difficult chapter, which required structured interventions, reintegration pathways, and national investments in peace.
That chapter was meant to close a cycle of conflict; not open a new avenue for informal authority over civil institutions.
Let it be understood:
Historical relevance is not a substitute for constitutional legitimacy.
Past visibility does not confer present authority.
Where such lines are blurred, disorder follows.
A CAUTION ROOTED IN HISTORY
The Ijaw Nation has paid dearly for instability. We cannot and will not permit a regression into spaces where:
Influence operates without mandate,
Pressure replaces process,
And informal power attempts to overshadow lawful authority.
Those who understand, understand!
A FINAL WORD OF WARNING
Let this be clearly heard by all who may be testing the limits of restraint:
The patience of the Ijaw people, especially its women, is not infinite.
Any further attempt to distort constitutional processes, impose outcomes, or operate through informal pressure will be met with firm, lawful, and collective resistance.
We will defend our institutions.
We will defend due process.
We will defend the integrity of the Ijaw Nation.
No individual, no matter their past or perceived influence, is greater than the collective will of the people.
ON ACCOUNTABILITY
No committee can cure illegality.
No ambiguity can replace order.
No narrative can erase the truth.
Accountability remains the only path forward.
CONCLUSION: IJAW WOMEN STAND FIRM
We declare:
We will not be intimidated.
We will not be distracted.
We will not be silenced.
We demand:
Full accountability
Strict adherence to the INC Constitution
Immediate correction of all illegitimate processes
Until justice is done, we remain resolute.
No to illegality.
No to imposition.
No to institutional distortion.
IJAW WOMEN RISE:
For justice.
For order.
For the integrity of our Nation.
We will not retreat.
We will not surrender.
ASAWANA WANA!
DR. TIMIEBI KORIPAMO-AGARY, OON
Ijaw Women’s Rights Group
