“We have never met him or seen him, and we do not want him to try to represent our council in any way.”
That was the reaction of Tsiigehtchic’s Gwichya Gwich’in Council in a press release last week, after the council said someone was “falsely claiming” to be its new executive director.
The person in question is Olanrewaju Koleoso. On the website of the Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC) – of which the Gwichya Gwich’in Council (GGC) is a member – Koleoso was last month listed as “Gwichya Gwich’in Executive Director.”
The Gwichya Gwich’in are in the middle of a months-long standoff with the GTC over various governance matters, and say they had nothing to do with Koleoso’s appointment.
The Gwichya Gwich’in say they separately appointed a completely different executive director three months ago. The press release accused the GTC of “reaching far outside its powers and causing confusion and harm.”
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By early December, Koleoso’s title on the Gwich’in Tribal Council website appeared to have been slightly amended. It now reads “Gwich’in Council Executive Director,” the word Gwichya having been removed.
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the GTC said the GGC had “misinterpreted the situation.”
Koleoso is a GTC employee, the spokesperson wrote, and “will not be representing themselves on behalf of the Gwichya Gwich’in Council.”
This confusion comes after acrimony at October’s annual assembly, where Grand Chief Ken Kyikavichik presented an audit that raised allegations of financial mismanagement among Gwich’in communities.
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Delegates representing Fort McPherson’s Teetł’it Gwich’in Council briefly walked out of the assembly. At the same event, a motion was passed that permanently removed Gwichya Gwich’in president Mavis Clark and Teetł’it Gwich’in counterpart Abe Wilson.
Kyikavichik has said the presidents’ suspensions were not directly connected to the audit but “some of the issues that have surfaced are interlinked.” (The GTC said Kyikavichik was travelling this week and could not be made available for comment.)
Meanwhile, the CBC reported this week that the GTC and GGC are in court over allegations that a Gwichya Gwich’in election was not properly organized and spending reports improperly filed. The GGC contests those allegations.
