LAGOS FEBRUARY 21ST (URHOBOTODAY)-The leadership of the Urhobo Progress Union, Ghana, has taken a swipe on the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon Monday Igbuya over his blanket endorsement of the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, for the 2019 governorship election.
The group in an email statement sent to Urhobotoday by David Ikueku had alleged that Igbuya had during a visit of Urhobo elders lead by Chief Godwin Ofotokun to Senator Ifeanyi Okowa urged them to endorse and support Okowa for 2019.
The group which described Igbuya’s advice as unsolicited, unwarranted, unconscionable and unjustifiable argued that it is their considered opinion that the present administration is expected to focus on delivering dividend of democratic governance to the people of Delta State, adding that Igbuya’s comments has equated political leadership in the state to tenure elongation with development being non essential.
“We expect the Speaker to use his position to construct legal planks to sustain and expand the states income in the wake of dwindling income from oil revenues. We expected Igbuya to have confined his comments to issues that are relevant to the welfare of Urhobos and the Deltans in general. The Ghana chapter of UPU strongly advised him to desist from making utterances capable of dividing the Urhobo nation ahead of the 2019 general election,” the group warned in the statement signed by its President Chief Emmanuel Igbudu (The Eni of Udu Kingdom) and PRO, Comrade David Ukueku.
Aggrieved by Igbuya’s utterances, the grup warned, “Igbuya should be careful and mindful of his utterance as Urhobo will not be hijacked and political subservient to the whims and caprices of a few individuals howsoever they are placed.
“He should be wary of working against his ethnic constituency come 2019 or face the wrath of the Urhobo people. It is not going to be business as usual come 2019.”