There is an urgent need for the
apex Urhobo Cultural body, Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) to endorse one candidate among the two governorship candidates,
Great Ovedje Ogboru and O’Tega Emerhor in order to prevent confusion on the
minds of the Urhobos and their neighbours. This is necessary because as things
are at the moment, the Urhobos and their neighbours are confused as to who
among the two candidates they will cast their votes for in the forthcoming
governorship election. The UPU should heed this advice in order to repeat the
feat it achieved prior to the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s primaries that led to
the endorsement of Olorugun David Edvebie as the sole candidate of the Urhobo
Nation at the primaries.
The committee set up by the UPU conducted an in-house
election for five candidates: Chief David Edevbie, Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, Prof.
Amos Agbe Utuama, Chief Kenneth Gbagi and Dr. John Akwara. At the end of that
mini election, Chief David Edevbie, who scored 40 points, emerged the preferred
candidate for the Urhobo Nation in the primaries.
But the UPU made a fundamental mistake for not
conducting the in-house election on time thereby coming out too late with its
choice candidate for the primaries. It will be recalled that UPU endorsed Chief
David Edevbie the very day (December 8, 2014) which the primaries were held.
That was not good enough as there was no time for the endorsed candidate (Chief
David Edevbie) to consult the people in order to get their supports. Also, UPU
had no time to sensitize and persuade the Urhobos and their neighbours on the
dare need to support Edevbie during the primaries. Additionally, UPU and Chief
David Edevbie did not have enough time to calm frayed nerves owing to the
outcome of the committee’s election. Some Urhobo aspirants under the PDP were
indeed angered by the result of the committee’s election. They felt all Urhobo
aspirants for the PDP’s primaries should have been allowed to participate in
the primaries without the UPU setting up a committee to endorse a candidate.
This acrimony caused Chief Kenneth to participate in the PDP’s primaries
despite the fact that UPU had endorsed Chief David Edevbie as the sole candidate
for the Urhobo Nation.
The aforementioned mistakes should not be allowed to repeat themselves
hence the need for UPU to endorse a candidate between Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru
and Olorugun O’Tega Emerhor now. The reasons being that if the two Urhobo illustrious
sons are allowed to contest the governorship election come February, the votes
of the Urhobo people will be split between the two candidates; this will negate
the quest for an Urhobo Governor in 2015. Again, the neighbours to the
Urhobos-Ijaws, Itsekiris, Isokos, Ndokwas, Ukwuanis, Aniomas and other people
of Delta State who may also want an Urhobo as the next governor will also have
their votes split; this will not be in the best interest of the Urhobos and
their supporters. Meanwhile, an early endorsement of one of the Urhobo
candidates will give the endorsed candidate apple time to engage in
consultations across the state. It will also afford the endorsed candidate the
opportunity to pacify and woo the candidate that lost out in the political endorsement
game and his followers to his side. This will help boost his followership and
eventual winning of the election.
However, considering the various
contests Chief Great Ovedj Ogboru had participated in and the recent revelation
by Chief Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege that Ogboru won in all past elections but
rigged out by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), he should be given another
chance to prove himself once again. Omo-Agege, now flying the flag of the LP for the Delta Central
Senatorial District, said: “I have made my own judgment that Ogboru is the best
material at this time to lead this fight for change and I can tell
you this because I know in the past the man has won elections, but he’s been
deprived. I can tell you that because I’ve been in PDP. All the elections the
man has contested from the rerun early 2011 and later in 2011, the man has won
all those elections but he’s been deprived.”
Undoubtedly, Ogboru has massive followership.
Reports reaching this writer reveal that Ogboru is still the most popular
candidate among the three contestants in the Delta State Governorship race! The
All Progressives Congress candidate, Olorugun O’Tega Emerhor is a man of
integrity but the APC under which he is contesting the governorship is not an
alternative as the Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is not the
best for the country. Gen. Buhari truncated democracy in Nigeria on December
31, 1983 when dethroned President Shehu Shagari. The APC has no integrity
because it had condemned the PDP often times for bad governance and corruption
yet it admitted members that defected from the PDP! How does one reconcile this
anomaly?
Though, the UPU in its popular
“Uwaimuge Declaration” said it would support a candidate of either the PDP or
APC that is of an Urhobo extraction. Considering the dynamism in politics and
since there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics but permanent
interest, no law bids the UPU to abide by that declaration since Chief Great
Ogboru is the best alternative.
Thus, from the above mentioned
reasons, since Chief Great Ogboru is the man to beat in the February 28
governorship election, Urhobo Progress Union should endorse him for the next
election so that the block of the Urhobo votes and those of their neighbours will
not be split between two contestants.
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