Kokori Gives Reasons Why Urhobo must Not Vote for Jonathan
Kokori
LAGOS FEBRUARY 27TH (URHOBOTODAY)-The Urhobo nation has given reason for deciding not to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan in next month’s presidential election.
It alleged that Jonathan humiliated the race in the past six years in office despite giving him close to one million votes.
Disclosing this yesterday when the leadership of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) in Delta State paid a courtesy call on the Acting President General of the Integrity faction of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Chief Tuesday Onoge, in Ekpan, a member of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Ovie Frank Kokori, alleged that President Jonathan corrupted the dethroned President General of the UPU, Chief Joe Omene, with money.
During the visit, which was also meant to render a special ‘‘thank you’’ to the new leadership of the UPU on the endorsement of their party’s candidates, Chief Kokori, a former leader of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), noted that Chief Onoge saved the Urhobo nation from shame and embarrassment when he stood for integrity and truth.
He pointed out that the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Chief Great Ogboru, as well as his party, were not in the agenda of the sacred Uvwiamughe Declaration and condemned the action of Chief Omene in endorsing Ogboru.
“The next time Urhobo wants to choose leaders, we must check their resumes. Chief Onoge is now acting against the integrity of Urhobo. In Nigeria today, we have only two parties, you are either with the conservatives or flow with the movement of change. The question of Great Ogboru and LP was alien in the Uvwiamughe Declaration. I felt he was a man like me; my word is my bond.
“Jonathan is facing his waterloo and he knows that. He has humiliated us; he has not respected the Urhobo for six years”, he said.
Also at the event, the governorship candidate of the APC in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, while expressing appreciation to the UPU leadership, stated that the word of the UPU is its bond.
He recalled that after the Uvwiamughe Declaration on March 28 last year, the UPU encouraged him and his counterparts in Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), to contest the primaries, promising to give support to whoever emerges.
“APC and PDP were the only qualified parties of the Uwiamuge Declaration in March 28, 2014, the only parties Urhobo endorsed. The UPU encouraged me as their son, ‘go and fight, if you succeed, we will support you’. The word of the UPU is its bond, they sent their children out, PDP came back empty handed, APC came back victorious. Automatically, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor became endorsed.
“Then the erstwhile leadership of the Joe Omene-led UPU after several invitations to Abuja, started singing a new song. It took men of honour like Chief Tuesday Onoge to say Urhobo must not be disgraced; Urhobo must stand by their word. I am happy I am part of the entourage of the APC that has come to say thank you.
“You stood up to defend the Urhobo interest and we have come to say thank you, not because we are the beneficiaries but because you have shown that there is light at the tunnel. We are contesting the governorship of Delta state, not Urhobo land, we therefore encourage you to reach out to other unions like you in Isoko, Ndokwa, Itsekiri, Ijaw”, he said.
Responding to the APC entourage, Chief Tuesday Onoge emphasized that the Uvwiamuge Declaration is beyond the UPU because it was made by the entire Urhobo people.
Urging all Urhobo to vote for the APC at the federal and state levels, he recalled that when they formed the ‘Integrity UPU’, the Vice Presidential candidate of the APC was the first to visit them.
“The entire Urhobo nation declared and all we need to do now is implementing. The presidential and governorship candidate of the APC are the only ones Urhobo will vote for. If we must deliver the APC in Delta state, we must be honest and work assiduously in our homes and villages. If you believe in APC, you must begin to campaign from here, whether you have money or not. APC is not a wealthy party, O’tega has never being in government, he has worked for his money”, Chief Onoge said.
Mr. Frank Kokori was right when he said that President Jonathan humiliated the Urhobo nation in the past six years of his leadership as president of Nigeria but that did not give him and his group of desperado the impetus to be lawless by splitting the UPU. For every organization there are bylaws and norm to follow. In a committee of fifteen members, four of the committee members decisions cannot overwhelm the decisions of others and moreover, Uvwiamuge Declaration is not sacrosanct. This could be altered especially if we perceived that at the end the player can not achieve the purpose of the declaration. That is what the other eleven other wisemen did by endorsing Chief Great Ogboru. They saw their campaigns and knew who among them is more popular and can achieve purpose of Uvwiamuge Declaration between O’tega and Great. What is Frank Kokori trying to say of Uvwiamuge Declaration, is Great Ogboru not an Urhobo son ? or is O’tega more Urhobo son than Great? Chief Kokori and his clique must stop this their nonsense. Chief Kokori you are too much for this, you cannot crack the UPU because your party man was not endorsed. Remember your glory days bailiwick work against IBB military junta . What you were saying then was that the military must follow the nation constitution and enthrone the winner of the election as president. Have you now change? Why don’t you and group follow the due process to remove Chief Omene? Are you people afraid that you cannot get the numbers to unseat him? Please you and your faction should mend fence with Chief Joe Omene quick to ensure the Uvwiamuge Declaration succeed if not posterity will not forgive you.