The Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) has re-aligned itself with the position of the Ijaw elders and that of the Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson on restructuring of the country, warning that the 2019 election is in danger if the presidential candidates refuse to address and support the vexed issue.

The Congress Central Zonal Chairman, Tare Porri, who spoke with newsmen after a congress held at Aleibiri in Ekeremor Local Council of Bayelsa State, said Ijaw youths in unity unanimously resolved that they are standing with the leaders of the Ijaw extraction that the 2019 elections will be a referendum on restructuring.

He said: “Ijaw people’s position is being reaffirmed by the youths of the Ijaw nation. We are standing with the governor-general of the Ijaw nation to the fact that 2019 general election is a referendum on restructuring.

“Any presidential candidate must first and foremost realise that Ijaw people will not support any candidate unless that candidate believes in restructuring.”

The Ijaw youths also warned of dire consequences if the Federal Government continues the prosecution of Dan Etete and other Niger Delta indigenes in the Malabo oil deal, saying they will not hesitate to stop the production of crude oil in the region.

He said: “Today, we have also resolved on the well-talked about Malabo oil deal, this OPL issue that they have been talking about every day. The position of Ijaw people is that Ijaw youths will not be deterred and that we are standing with Dan Etete and all the stakeholders in that platform.

“And that the Federal Government should stop persecuting Ijaw people who are in the oil and gas sector; that any further attempt to silence the Ijaw people in the oil and gas industry, Ijaw youths will waste no time in making sure that they don’t take crude oil from our environment again.”

The Ijaw youths, who passed a vote of confidence on Dickson for his efforts in road construction, aligned with the governor that the 13 per cent derivation component of the excess crude in the $1 billion that has been erroneously withdrawn by the Federal Government should be paid to the Ijaw people. (The Guardian)

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