2023 Poll: No Life Was Lost in Ogoni, Says Indigenous Group

*To ban sponsors of electoral violence in Ogoniland

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

A group, Ogoni Central Indigenous Authority (OCIA), has disclosed that no life was lost in Ogoniland during the February 25 and March 18, 2023, elections in the area.

The group, ahead of the general elections, protested the loss of about 300 of their loved ones in the past polls and therefore declared non-participation in the 2023 elections in Rivers State.

But in a meeting held yesterday with ‘the General Assembly of Political Party Leaders in Ogoniland’, the President of OCIA, Dr. Goodluck Diigbo, said unlike in the past elections, Ogoni people did not record any loss of life in the just-concluded elections in the area.

Diigbo, who spoke online from United States of America at the meeting held in Teyork, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, explained that the aim of the gathering was to “build upon the February/March 2023 bloodshed deterrence initiative to preserve peaceful electoral process in Ogoniland.

“Before the 2023 general election, there was violence by political parties, but we set up group to ensure that there is peace in the area.

“We continue to follow events, tendencies, and trends, including conflicts, failures, threats and misused opportunities in Nigeria; we are mindful of our sacred duty to practice and revitalise our customs and traditions, as we nurture our self-government, its laws and indigenous institutions to ultimately bring peace and justice to Ogoniland.”

The Ogoniland, spanning four LGAs of Rivers (Eleme, Gokana, Khana and Tai), have suffered years of environmental degradation. The indigenes also alleged political marginalisation by the government.

During the meeting, members also deliberated on their roles in the control and conduct of all elections at the local, state and Nigeria at large.

At the end of the deliberation, the group, however, resolved to ban any political party or person who sponsors electoral violence in the area, as part of steps to ensure no loss of life during elections in future in Ogoniland.

Other resolutions from the meeting included: “That any political party that han-picks and imposes a candidate on the electorate stands banned in Ogoniland. Results of all partisan and general elections held in Ogoniland must be announced at the local polling booths where such elections are scheduled to take place.”