It is no longer news that the Urhobo have been at loggerheads over the “Uvwiamughe Declaration.”

With some measure of fiat issued to recover its lead in democratic politics in Delta State, the UPU had decided that the Urhobo should give block vote to a national party that picks one of their own as its governorship candidate for the 2015 general elections.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the declaration was issued, over a year ago. Prominent amongst them is the passing to glory of Gen. Patrick Aziza, the erstwhile President General of the UPU. The first deputy, Chief Joe Omene, was naturally handed the saddle to steer the affairs of the Urhobo pending a congress slated for December, 2014.

But because of high wire politicking at the time, Omene was allowed to carry on. No sooner than party primaries began ahead of the 2015 polls than the first blunder was made. As if the UPU was waiting for the PDP to make mistake, UPU went public to endorse Chief David Edevwie as its choice of a PDP candidate a few hours to the PDP primaries. It was not a surprise to many discerning Urhobo when Dr Ifeanyi Okowa from Delta North beat the UPU choice to clinch the ticket of the PDP.

Many Urhobo saw this step as a blunder because UPU was not expected to enter into the political arena openly to take sides with one party against another. In spite of thus, the EXCO of UPU paid a visit to President Goodluck Jonathan where they pledged to work for with a view of returning him for second term. Their proposal was to work for him for Mr President and then work for an Urhobo governor at the state level in another party with the assumption that the Urhobo governor will defect to PDP after winning the election.

This left the stage clear for Chief Otega Emerhor who lost a senatorial bid a year before under the platform of the APC as the most favoured that will meet the requirements of the Uvwiamughe Declaration. That was not to be as the People’s General, Chief Great Ogboru, the most recurring decimal in Delta State politics, had laced his shoes under the Labour Party once more. In reality, it should be abundantly stated that Labour Party, however, is not a national party in the spirit of the Uvwiamughe Declaration as it does not have any federal representation after the defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko to PDP.

It was not long before an impasse was created. Two factions of the UPU emerged as they attempted to make a choice between Otega and Ogboru. While the mainstream UPU, led by Omene, went publicly again to anoint Ogboru as its choice for the election, a splinter group, led by Chief Tuesday Onoge, went public also and endorsed Emerhor of the APC as its preferred candidate. The implication of the foregoing is that Urhobo is going into the 2015 election with a divided house. The consequence can be best imagined.

Concerned about the logjam, stakeholders, elders, socio-political organizations, eminent sons and daughters of Urhobo had to take the initiative under the aegis of Urhobo Leaders of Thought to wade into the matter and settle it amicably with only the overall interest of the Urhobo at heart.

The spokesperson of the body, Olorogun Abel Edijala, himself a former governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Delta State in the 2007 election, assured that in a meeting of stakeholders,   the matter was tabled and a committee set up to meet with all parties.

He said that an enlarged meeting of the body slated for the weeks preceding the election will make public its resolution on how the matter will be resolved.