A fresh leadership crisis has hit the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) following the emergence of a group that has refused to recognize the leadership of Legborsi Pyagbara, who emerged in 2011.
The group, MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators Forum, according to a reliable source is being supported by the Federal Government to destabilize the leadership of Pyagbara, who like Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has been clamouring for the clean-up of Ogoniland.
The chairman of the MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators Forum, Frank Jonah said “we do not recognize Pyagbara as MOSOP president because his election was fraudulent and he (Pyagbara) knows that he came in through the back door.”
Jonah said the Kingdom coordinators have explored internal avenues to
resolve the conflict and it failed because Pyagbara is not a man of
peace.
MOSOP has continued with its trade mark campaign in Ogoniland since the emergence of Pyagbara with the group pressurizing the Federal Government to clean-up Ogoniland after more than one year after the United Nationas Environmental Programme (UNEP) recommended the clean-up.
In early December 2013, Pyagbara and other Ogoni activits, including Celestine Akpobare of the Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF) blocked the East-West Road to press home the demand for the clean-up.
The Kingdom Coordinators a caretaker committee headed by Prof.Ben Naanen
of not concluding the election that brought in Pyagbara into office, accusing him of not adhering strictly to the rules guiding the election.
They also allege that Pyagbara’s call for the cleanup is being masterminded by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is allegedly in need of funds to fund the 2015 general elections.
It would be recalled that $1 billion has been set aside for the clean-up.
The coordinators accuse Pyagbara of compromising the integrity of the
organization by pursuing personal interests rather than the common
good of the Ogoni people.
Meanwhile, a reliable source told 247ureports.com that Frank Jonah and others opposing Pyagbara are
playing “a script written from Abuja,” noting that the Federal Government has so far demonstrated it does not want the clean-up to take place.
