The Movement for Survival of Ogoni People, (MOSOP) said Ogoni will not participate in the 2015 general elections, if an Ogoni is not chosen to run for the governorship seat in Rivers State.
President of MOSOP, Legborsi Pyagbara said Monday, at the 19th Anniversary Commemoration of Ogoni Matyrs in Port Harcourt, that the decision to boycott the election was reached at an enlarged meeting to proffer solution to political inequality and representation in Rivers State.
According to him, Ogoni are no longer prepared to play second fiddle in the political life of the state after 47 years of creation of Rivers State, adding that the Ogoni campaign for political equality was anchored on the third demand in the Ogoni Bill of Rights, which stressed that Ogoni people need adequate and direct representation in all Nigerian National institutions.
“In this campaign, Ogoni is making a bold statement that we are no longer prepared to play second fiddle in the political life of Rivers State after 47 years. To this end, we are calling on political parties to choose Ogoni candidates as their flag bearers, as failure to do so automatically means that Ogoni people will not participate in the 2015 general, elections”, Pyagbara said.
On the UNEP report, Pyagbara said the prospect of dialogue with government and Ogoni people had been long in coming, adding that with the consultative meeting with Federal government on August 8, 2014, things have moved albeit slowly, on some positive note.
Pyagbara further explained that, the resolutions reached at the consultative meeting were still in the process of implementation, assuring Ogonis that the process of consultation at every stage would continue as already done at the last Ogoni Congress held on the 2nd November 2014.
Meanwhile, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to reverse the conviction of Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine others by the military government of late General Sani Abacha.
President of the body, Mr. Legborsi Pyagbara, who made the call in Port Harcourt, at a programme to mark the 19th anniversary of the death of Saro-Wiwa and the other nine, said their trial by a military tribunal was designed to achieve an end from the beginning, noting that it violated every known sense of justice.
He said, “on this remembrance day, we are sending a strong note of request to the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to immediately set in motion the process for clearing the names of the Ogoni Nine. The Presidency has gone to sleep for too long on this issue and now is the time to act.”
Continuing, Pyagbara, who said Ogoni had not resolved its differences with the Federal Government on issues around oil exploration in the area, advised prospective investors to wait until all matters were resolved before coming in.
According to him, “Shell and Ogoni are in dispute and the issues surrounding the disputes have not been settled. It is on record that in 2008, late President Musa Yar’Adua had announced the removal of licence over Ogoni from Shell. MOSOP vehemently condemns the present attempt to divest Ogoni oil blocs without clear and focused discussions with the Ogonipeople. We are also seizing this opportunity to warn all would-be investors to steer clear of Ogoni until matters around this divestment have been properly discussed with Ogoni people.”
The MOSOP President drummed up support for an Ogoni governor in the state in 2015, saying all political parties should field their standard bearer from Ogoni, to enjoy vote from the area.
State chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Felix Obua, in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Jerry Needam, lauded the Ogoni for their struggle for fairness and justice, adding that it was time for their effort to be rewarded.
He said: “The chairman, Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Felix Obuah, sayst supreme price paid by the Ogoni martyrs for social justice and equity is never in vain and must be rewarded.”

Enoch Epelle