Urhobo Progress Union In Dilemma Over Who To Endorse Between Great Ogboru And O'Tega Emerhor

The hope for the Urhobo ethnic nationality to join forces to enhance the chances of one of its illustrious sons in the 2015 governorship race in Delta State may have been dashed as the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the socio-cultural union of Urhobos world-wide, has failed to reach consensus on who the body should endorse.

Instead, the influential UPU has split into two factions with one drumming support for the candidature of Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru of the Labour Party (LP) and the other faction declaring Chief O'tega Emerhor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its sole candidate in the February 28 election.

This followed a deadlocked meeting of the UPU, held behind closed doors on Sunday night in Mosogar, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, which has torn the apex Urhobo leadership body into two factions with each endorsing the two Urhobo sons as Urhobo nation's sole candidate.

In the same vein, the UPU has been torn between Urhobo's support for President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP and Muhammadu Buhari of the APC, since Ogboru's LP in Delta State has already announced the endorsement of Jonathan as the LP's presidential candidate.

THISDAY gathered that signs of cracks in the wall of the UPU emerged when dissenting members staged a walkout following at the alleged insistence by the UPU President-General, Chief Joe Omene, for acceptance as the candidate of all Urhobo people whoever emerged from the meeting as "Urhobo sole candidate" between APC's Emerhor and Ogboru of the LP.

Shortly after the storming out led by Chief Tuesday Onoge, UPU's first Deputy President-General, Omene, told journalists that the consenting members who stayed behind had settled for Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru of LP as sole candidate of Urhobo (Delta Central senatorial zone) in the governorship election.
He added that his faction's decision was supported by president-general, youth and women leaders in Urhobo.

However, reacting via a statement yesterday, the Onoge-led dissenting faction alleged that Omene had ceased to be the UPU President-General, claiming that Omene's second-in-command, Chief Tuesday Onoge had been appointed as acting President-General.

The statement further accused Omene of attempting to impose his personal will at the detriment of the collective will and interest of the Urhobo ethnic nationality.

The statement, signed by Onoge in his capacity as Acting P-G of the UPU and Mumakai Unagha, Assistant Publicity Secretary, read part: "After frequent visits to Aso Rock, which clearly have compromised him, Chief Joe Omene was determined to make mockery of the Urhobo nation by dumping the sacred and collective will of the people as expressed in the Uvwiamuge Declaration.

"In spite of the directives by the forum of Ivies (Kings) and Urhobo clergy to the contrary, he is determined to coerce and rush the Urhobo into a fatal decision to support the PDP/Jonathan, Labour/Ogboru (governorship), a ticket alien to the Uvwiamuge Declaration when PDP failed to give it's governorship ticket to Urhobo and Labour is not a national party.

"Not knowing which party will win the Presidential election, the imminent danger is that in the event of a miscalculation, the Urhobo nation will be in opposition and elongated suffering.

"UPU will stand firm and uphold the honour and integrity of Urhobo people by not abandoning Uvwiamuge Declaration and to accord its beneficiaries full recognition. Accordingly, the qualifying ticket of APC/Buhari/Emerhor is hereby endorsed by UPU."

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Source: This Day
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