… Fly clean; don’t think of
rigging -Odibo
Author: By Onitsha Shedrack
The Delta State Deputy Governor,
Prof. Amos Utuama, has assured the People Democratic Party (PDP) faithful in
Delta Central Senatorial District that the party will win the forth-coming
senatorial by-election to fill the vacant seat occasioned by the death of late
Senator Pius Ewherido, noting that the Urhobo Nation cannot afford to remain in
the opposition. However, Chief Richard Odibo, a Democratic Peoples Party (DPP)
senatorial aspirant warned all parties to the by-election to fly clean and
should not think of rigging as DPP is prepared to resist any forms of rigging.
Prof Utuama while addressing newsmen
at the Osubi Airstrip on his way from a medical treatment in the United States
of America over the weekend, stated that he was happy for the reception he got
on arrival: “I want to thank my people for coming to receive us. This was not
planned, much unexpected. I believe that God, who has arranged this, will be on
this to foster the unity of our people. And my prayer is that whatever we are
seeking in terms of our political ambition, we should seek it within the larger
frame of the government of the day.”
On the by-election, the Deputy governor
has this to say; “Well first of all, let me say that at the time we lost our
Senator, I was not available because I had some medical challenges which I have
being dealing with in the US and I thank God that the surgery was successful
and I am back hale and hearty as you can see.
“Let me use this opportunity to
condole with the immediate family and the extended family and the Urhobo nation
for the sudden death of a distinguished Senator Pius Ewherido. Having said
that, the vacancy is yet to be declared by INEC, and I believe as a people, we
will sit down and screen whoever will replace him. But what I can assure you is
that, that seat will go to the PDP for now, which is the party I belong to,” he
added.
Meanwhile, in a media chat with
Journalists in Udu, Chief Richard Odibo, a senatorial aspirant on the platform
of the DPP and the Director General of Chief Great Ogboru campaign organization
in the 2011 election, has warned all political parties running for the Delta
Central senatorial by-election to fly clean because there would be no room for
rigging as any attempt to rig the election would be resisted.
While briefing the press why he
joined the race, he noted that the untimely death of late Senator Ewherido is a
big setback to the Urhobo Nation, and therefore there is need to send a vibrant
and articulate Urhobo son that has the overriding interest of the Urhobo people
to the senate to build on and complete what Ewherido started.
“Today’s gathering is to enable you
people to understand where we are coming from. Late Senator Pius Ewherido was
like a younger brother to me, and I was one of those that helped him into
becoming a Senator but it became unfortunate that he passed on the way he did.
Nobody planned for it, but no one can also question God. As he had passed on we
have laid him to rest, his seat of course is now vacant at the National
Assembly. Though, INEC has not declared it vacant, so many people have
indicated interest to run for that seat. I too as one of his former mentors
have been prevailed upon by members of my party, the DPP on whose platform he
ran and won that seat before now, to also come forward and represent the party.
Having decided and I have accepted
to represent the party, in the democracy, you don’t do it alone, others have
also indicated interest to run for the party. But, in due course I will emerge
as the candidate for the party, hope so,” he stated.
On what he has for the people of
Delta Central, Chief Odibo has this to say, “The Urhobo as a nation today is
saddled with a lot of problems. There problems here are numerous, but one of
the most important one is that the nation is being sidelined and it is now
becoming a subject of ridicule in the committee of the nations. My intention is
to build a bridge of friendship across to other ethnic nationalities and I
think that is the beginning of solving so many other issues. Like I view it,
that bridge of friendship is to enable us discuss or deliberate on other
important issues like DSC issue which is becoming a current decimal.
He added: “The Urhobo nation is
supposedly on an imaginary war with so many ethnic nationalities around. Our
brothers and sisters, the truth is that there is no war. It is all
imaginary. This people are in bed every night. You cannot see any Urhobo family
without an Itsekiri or an Ijaw person. Even me speaking here today I am also
maternally an Ijaw person. So, Urhobo nation is not at war. I want to make it
clear to everybody that Urhobo nation is not at war with Itsekiri, Ijaw, Isoko
or other ethnic group in the state. Unfortunately, Urhobo is receiving blows
from all sides.
“UPU today is working seriously with
a view to ensuring that all these setbacks are taking care of, these
impressions which have been built over time are cleared from the system. And it
is my intention to work inline with UPU’s agenda if I emerge as the candidate
and as the Senator. We can build the bridge of friendship across, then
all other problems as I have identified will be taking care of.
“Having said that, the next thing is,
by his grace, all the candidates of the parties that will emerge I will want to
send this message to them. We should please try to fly clean. We should
endeavour to fly clean in this forth-coming by- election. PDP, APC, including
my DPP, none of these should think of rigging, because they will not find it
easy. I am bold to say that any party that intends to ring this forth-coming
by-election will be resisted very early. We want peace in Urhobo land, so they
should please not think of it at all.
“Because I read in one of the papers
recently, Vanguard precisely, one group calling on UPU to just allow the
governor to pick up a candidate so that the UPU will not work at variant with
the federal government. That is not democracy. Having read it, I was happy to
also read in the paper either the next day or two days after, a quick response
to that. Please, let this note of warning go to them. Nobody should think of
rigging. Let us follow it democratically to the end. If I lose on a clean slate,
that is, on a free and fare election, I will accept it and go and work with
whoever emerges victorious. And if I win, I expect the other candidate,
to walk up to me and embrace me so that we can work and put Urhobo back to its
glorious days.
“Urhobo as a nation, we want peace,
we don’t want violence. The last election 2011 was well conducted here, and we
voted enmass for the President. But, on individual bases, we voted for the
other candidate. That was how Ewherido emerged as the winner. So please, they
should not bring in the national politics to come and play here. They should
not say that since Urhobo voted DPP, then Urhobo is against the federal
government; that is not true. If in the last election we voted Jonathan and we
voted DPP when it came to other parties, it means that Urhobos are working with
their conscience.”
On the alleged movement of the late
Ewherido political family from the DPP, to APC and their adaptation of Chief
Otega Emerho for the Delta Central senatorial by-election, Chief Odibo said
that “the Ewherido political family was made up of individuals; DPP has
structures all over the state. Ewherido political family is for Central and the
governor has structures in the whole of centrals. It is unfortunate but we are
still relating, some of them are still with us, I don’t want to mention names,
but they have the right to choose the party they want to go to.
“Right now, they don’t want to come
to us openly, because Ewherido took that position before he died and if they
come to us openly, it will look like betraying their mentor or their principal.
But I can tell you that a lot of them are still with us and the APC has no
structures just now as it were. They have just been registered. ACN was in
Delta State, ACN had nothing doing in Delta State even in the last election
with their candidate who was even a popular Urhobo son, but they couldn’t pull
anything when it came to election. So, I don’t think they have any significance
to this by-election.”
urhobotimes.com
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