2023 Session 4: Election
- Itsekiri NextGen Project: 2023 Session 4 Report
- Topic: Election
- Date: Saturday 4th February 2023
- Volunteers Present: 4
- Total Number of Attendees: 66
- Timings: 9:00am – 1:00pm
- Venue: Former Caravan 4, Aja-Pessu (Pessu Town), Warri
- Main Topic/Activity: Election
- Resource Person: Itsekiri Nextgen team
Summary
The tenure of the previous team leaders has elapsed, hence the need to elect new leaders to emerge. The fourth session was scheduled for the participants to elect their choice leaders.
Session Delivery
The participants came in for the session with so much anxiety about the leadership election. They were seen whispering to each other about who will emerge as the leader of each team.
They were asked to come together to start the session. A participant came out to do the opening prayer, and then the Itsekiri anthem was sung.
Emmanuel Egbe came up to give a brief about the election and the voting process, using Nigeria’s previous election as a case study. He also told them the consequences of electing a credible and a bad leader.
The contestants for each team were made to come out to give their manifesto, beginning with team Olu Ikenwoli with three contestants which are;
- Happy Omomehin
- Rosemary Okechukwu
- Onyinye
Team Olu Atuwatse II also had three contestants, namely;
- Emmanuel
- Eworitse Temiatse
- Samuel
Team Erejuwa II had five contestants, namely;
- Mofe Pessu
- Tosan Okandeji
- Electra Tuedor
- Mitchell Tuedor
- Beauty Omomehin
Mitchell Tuedor was disqualified due to misconduct during the Manifesto.
Team Olu Ginuwa had just two contestants, namely;
- Laju Faulkner
- Chisom Onovo
They all came out to give their manifesto with confidence, with each contestant emphasizing their desire of making their team the best and well-behaved. A contestant; Emmanuel, was a bit emotional, with some tears dropping to his cheek after giving his manifesto.
Ballot papers were given to all the participants, with the contestants included. The names of the contestants were projected under their team for all to see. This is so that they can write on the ballot paper the names of their candidates.
The participants queued up to cast their votes in the ballot box allocated to each team. Then counting was done, beginning with team Olu Ikenwoli. Happy Omomehin emerged as the winner with 9 votes, with Rosemary Okechukwu as the runner-up with 5 votes. While Laju Faulkner emerged as the winner of team Ginuwa II with 8 votes with Chisom Onovo as the runner-up with a single vote.
Beauty Omomehin was disqualified due to electoral malpractice. Her handwriting was found on all the ballot papers with Beauty. She agreed to have written for them because some participants couldn’t spell when the projector went off.
There was a tie in team Atuwatse II between Emmanuel and Eworitse Temiatse and also in team Erejuwa II between Mofe Pessu and Tosan Okandeji.
A re-run election was held and Emmanuel emerged as the winner of team Atuwatse II with 11 votes, while Mofe Pessu emerged as the leader of team Erejuwa II with 16 votes.
All the runners-up were automatically chosen to be assistants to the leaders. They were all called out and congratulated by everyone. They were advised to keep to their promises even as they make their tenure impactful.
Other key activities during the session
- Manifesto
- Voting