By David Owei, Yenagoa <\/p>\n
History was made as the Ibeni Oyiakiri Clan on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, has unanimously elected HRH James Sarakiri as a sole candidate as its 4th clan head in a peaceful and transparent exercise that took place in Aleibiri, Ekeremor Local Government Area.<\/p>\n
James Sarakiri, who is also the Amananaowei of Aleibiri, polled a unanimous \u201cYes\u201d votes from all 47 delegates drawn from the 18 communities that constitute the clan,some of which are from outside Ekeremor local government area of Bayelsa state.<\/p>\n
The election was the first since the death of King Joshua Igbagara, from Isoni who reigned from 1977
\nChairman of the Electoral Committee, HRH Asima Kemekeme, said the Ibeni Oyiakiri Clan, which spans communities in Ekeremor and Sagbama LGAs, has had only three clan heads in its centuries-old history. King Joshua Igbagara who succeeded Buguma Daunimigha, who was installed in 1965, while the pioneer clan head was Amgbatu.<\/p>\n
The clan was gazetted in 1998, with Aleibiri receiving the first certificate of recognition under King Joshua Igbagara. Seventeen other communities were gazetted in 2015 under former Governor Seriake Dickson.<\/p>\n
HRH Nimizigha Agaba of Odoni, who witnessed the election, described it as one of the most peaceful chieftaincy polls in the state\u2019s recent history.
\nHe urged other communities to emulate the peaceful and transparent election that took place at Aleibiri,saying that if elections were conducted like this there would not be frequent rancour and crisis that have bedeviled most communities across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the most peaceful elections I have ever witnessed. Everywhere was calm, quiet, and peaceful,\u201d he said, adding that the outcome reflected growing unity in the clan.<\/p>\n
He urged stakeholders to sustain the unity and work towards the material and human development of the clan.<\/p>\n
In his goodwill message, Hon. Tare Porri, Member representing Ekeremor Constituency I in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, called on the King-Elect to prioritise the drafting of a clan constitution and the establishment of a Council of Chiefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy advice and appeal to the King-Elect is this: working together with the traditional rulers of the different communities and with the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, we would like to see a working document that will guide the affairs of this kingdom in the nearest possible future,\u201d Porri said.<\/p>\n
He commended Governor Douye Diri, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and security agencies for providing a conducive atmosphere,assured that he will collaborate with Hon Bernard Kenibai,Sagbama Constituency and Ekeremor Sagbama Federal Constituency APC candidate to ensure they will meet with governor Douye Diri to give the clan head elect ,a rousing and befitting coronation .<\/p>\n
Mr. Ondo Gbekumo, State Deputy Coordinator of the Community Safety Corps (CSC), attributed the success of the exercise to proactive security measures and the maturity displayed by the delegates.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is indeed a great day. The process has been very peaceful… I congratulate our King-Elect. May your reign be peaceful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Seperegha Godsgift, speaking on behalf of the delegates, appealed for total support for the new monarch to pilot the affairs of the clan.<\/p>\n
An official observer from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Alexander Peretu, described the poll as one of the freest and most transparent chieftaincy elections the ministry had witnessed.<\/p>\n
In his acceptance speech, HRH James Sarakiri described the task ahead as enormous but achievable with collective effort and divine guidance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe responsibility given to me today is a heavy one. To be honest, I come before you with mixed feelings,\u201d he said. \u201cIn today\u2019s world, leading Oyiakiri is no small task.\u201d<\/p>\n
He urged the clan to emulate the humility, determination, and love exemplified by the Wright Brothers, and commended three sons of the clan who endured unwarranted harassment but remained committed to peace.
\nHe sought the cooperation and support from everybody,as he has no Monopoly of knowledge,but with their support there will be peace and development in the clan, because peace is the only panacea of development and progress.<\/p>\n
The Electoral Committee (ELECO) was headed by HRH Asima Kemekeme (Chairman), with HRH D.M. Apelebiri (Vice Chairman), HRH Igbagara Kemeasuodei (Secretary), and members HRH Igbudu Eniyekesibe and HRH Amos Bethany. Committee members did not vote.<\/p>\n
The electoral college comprised three delegates from each of the 18 communities: Toru-Ebeni, Aleibiri, Akeddei, Ogbosuware, Anyama-Ibeni, Lalagbene, Isoni, Ogbunughene, Ogbogbene, Odoni, and Tie-Tiegbene.<\/p>\n
As the time of filling the report, youths,women and stakeholders were trooping to the palace of the newly elected monarch to fecilitate him on his overwhelming acceptance that culminated to his election as the clan head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By David Owei, Yenagoa History was made as the Ibeni Oyiakiri Clan on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, has unanimously elected HRH James Sarakiri as a sole candidate as its 4th clan head in a peaceful and transparent exercise that took place in Aleibiri, Ekeremor Local Government Area. James Sarakiri, who is also the Amananaowei of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15143,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15141\/revisions\/15143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}