2026: Ogoriba is the best for INC Presidency – Ikuli

By Okioma Aherhoke

11 January 2026

News

As the 2026 Ijaw National Congress election (INC), draws closer and the search for a credible and trusted person to take over from Prof Benjamin Okaba who has been in the saddle as INC president, a former Acting President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Senior Comrade Wisdom Ikuli has called on all Ijaw people at home and in the diaspora to vote for Elder Timi Kaizer Ogoriba as President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) in the upcoming election.

Describing Elder Timi Kaizer Ogoriba as the best and most preferred among those justling for the Ijaw Presidency, Wisdom Ikuli opined that the Ijaw people needed a vocal and intelligent representation and not people who will slide the Ijaw nation beyond recovery.

“After the Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro Niger Delta struggle, Ijaws were scattered without any united Ijaw group or umbrella that held Ijaws together.

“It was Elder T.K. Ogoriba that sacrificed everything he had including his teaching career to bring Ijaw people together under the Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND).

“He was arrested several times. Some of us may be aware of his famous Rescue from Creek Haven Government House where he was detained by the then military Governor.

“Special Egbesu Team was mobilized for that historic mission. On arrival at the Creek Haven Government House, all the guns of the military personnel on duty were rendered inactive. None of the guns sounded.

“The soldiers became motionless and they were all disarmed. All the guns were later handed over to the DPO at Oporoma during their escape,” Ikuli said.

Continuing,Ikuli who had held several leadership positions in the Ijaw Youth Council and is current President of the Niger Delta Nonviolence Agitators Forum (NDNAF) said, “Some persons actually made unimaginable sacrifices and others paid Supreme prices for the freedom we are enjoying today.

“Elder T.K. Ogoriba is one of the great Ijaws that made almost unbelievable sacrifices for the Ijaw Nation to get political identity and the vocal voice that we have today.

“It is a known fact that it was from MOSIEND that groups like Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and others were formed.

“It is time to reform, transform and reposition Ijaw National Congress (INC). Let us support the ELDER T.K OGORIBA INC 2026 PROJECT.”

Ikuli noted that when elected,he has strong conviction that Ogoriba and his team will place the Ijaw nation in the global map.

Meanwhile, Elder T. K. Ogoriba had given kudos to the organizers of the Bayelsa Media Network Award ( BMNA ) for honoring him during the 2025 yuletide season, adding that the ward was very auspicious and apt, particularly coming in the heels of his preparation to contest for the 2026 lNC president General election , which he noted is a moral booster and harbinger of good things to come. He received the award of excellence as lzon Icon of the year.

The Elders state man and Izon national patriot not only thanked the BMNA for considering him for the award, but said the award will spur him to do more for humanity.

He stated this in his opening remarks as the chairman of the occasion and while speaking to journalists after receiving the award,respectively.

He noted that the essence of any award is to honour the resilience of the awardees who have excelled in their different fields of human endeavours . ” The award is a challenge to those honoured to do more, as that the level of education obtained and impact one make in society is a determinant of any recognition bestowed”