By Egufe Yafugborhi

With just one month to the February general elections, Urhobo nation’s position on the governorship candidate of Delta State is still unclear as disagreement has rocked the ethnic group’s apex body, Urhobo Progress Union, UPU.

The bone of contention is the position of Chief Joe Omene, President-General of UPU. He has been accused of allegedly deviating from the Uvwiamughe Declaration, a 2014 oath sworn to by all Urhobo interest groups to cast their over one million bloc votes to the All Progressives Congress, APC, at all levels in the coming elections should the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, fail to give its governorship ticket to an Urhobo.

Following the death of Gen. Patrick Aziza, under whose leadership Urhobo swore to the Uvwiamughe Declaration, his successor, Chief Omene, cast the first threat to the declaration when he indicated that Urhobo could support Chief Great Ogboru, Labour Party’s flag bearer, for the governorship position, weeks after assuring the APC candidate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, of their full support in absence of an Urhobo PDP ticket.

Deliberations last Sunday by the UPU stakeholders at Mosogar, Ethiope East Local Government Area, towards fielding a single Urhobo candidate in line with Uvwiamughe Declaration, ended abruptly as majority of the executive members rose against Chief Omene’s pressure on Urhobo to support the PDP in the coming elections.

It was alleged at the disrupted meeting, that majority of UPU executive bent on actualising the original Uvwiamuge Declaration, insisted that Olorogun Emerhor of APC be adopted as Urhobo consensus candidate for the election following the absence of a PDP governorship ticket.

An argument that disrupted the closed door meeting, it was gathered, forced an adjournment of the meeting with a resolution to table the matter before Urhobo Council of Traditional Rulers, and the Youth and Women Wings of UPU for ratification.

An executive member, who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, said: “Majority of the executive members agreed in a voice vote at the meeting that on Uvwiamughe Declaration we stand, and in that spirit, a drastic decision must be taken to ensure that every Urhobo stands by the declaration.”