Henry Ebireri
TOP leaders of the Okpe Nation on Wednesday excoriated a member of the Delta State Advisory and Peace Building Council, Chief Robert Onome and a former self-acclaimed President-General of Okpe Union, Okakuro Joseph Aboze over a statement credited to them.
“The Orodje of Okpe, Orhue I on the 3rd of October, 2020 purportedly dissolved the Okakuro Robert Onome-led National Executive Council of the Okpe Union.
“A Federal High Court on the 19th of January, 2023 ruled that the dissolution was illegal (ab initio) and of no effect whatsoever and it is taken that it never happened. The tenure of the Okakuro Onome-led NEC elapsed after the then 1st Deputy President-General, Mr. Patrick Akpotor, stepped in as Acting President-General in accordance with the provisions of the Okpe Union Constitution (as Okakuro Robert Onome publicly accepted the illegal dissolution and joined the court nullified Illegal Board of Trustees)’’.
The leaders said such a statement coming from a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and Aboze smacked of the antics of an agent of instability.
“The attention of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union has been drawn to a press release signed by Okakuro Joseph Aboze and being circulated in different platforms announcing the “stepping aside” of his group that had been parading as National Executive Council of the Okpe Union for nearly two years in spite of the judgment of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos (suit no FHC/L/CS/603/2022), which declared them illegal’’.
The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union in a statement on Wednesday saw the stepping aside of the Okakuro Aboze group as an opportunity for proper reconciliation, unity and progress of the Okpe Nation.
The statement signed by Engr. Francis Redemi, 1st Deputy President-General, Okpe Union, Mr. Omamurhomu Ayaruja, 2nd Deputy President General, Okpe Union, Dr. Lucky Akpere, 3rd Deputy President General, Okpe Union, Mr. Bernard Adibor, 4th Deputy President General, Okpe Union, Barr. Kingsley Ehensiri Akpederin, General Secretary, Okpe Union and Mrs Rose Atarhe Abuh, National Publicity Secretary, Okpe Union, faulted the assertion that his group “steps aside for Okakuro Robert Onome-led executive
‘’Okakuro Robert Onome did not seek reelection when election into the National Executive Council of the Okpe Union was conducted on the 15th of May, 2021 which birthed the Prof. Igho Natufe led National Executive Council. Okakuro Robert Onome has NO OFFICE to return to as the Okpe Union never folded up as a result of the illegal pronouncement of 3rd October 2020 but continued its life circle under the then Acting President General, Mr. Patrick Akpotor.
“The notable leaders of the Okpe Nation described Aboze’s statement as a calculated attempt to misrepresent the true position of affairs in the Okpe Union and the unambiguous judgments of the courts’.
The leaders stressed that Aboze could not make such sweeping statements because, in the first place, the acceptance of the illegal dissolution by Okakuro Onome did not affect the tenure of that EXCO as the union is not the property of one man.
‘’It was the Prof. Igho Natufe-led National Executive Council of the Okpe Union that approached the Federal High Court, Lagos to declare the purported dissolution of the NEC and imposition of an illegal Interim EXCO on 3rd October 2020 illegal and for a perpetual injunction restraining the Illegal Interim EXCO and their privies from so parading themselves as the leadership of the Okpe Union. The Affidavit in that suit clearly stated the fact of the Prof. Igho Natufe leadership of the Okpe Union and this was never countered by the defendants in the case.
The leaders affirmed that several members of the Okakuro Robert Onome-led NEC recontested for their positions in the 15th May 2021 Okpe Union National Elections and were reelected.
‘’Those in that former NEC who were reelected include the 2nd Deputy President General, the 4th Deputy President General, the General Secretary, the National Publicity Secretary, the National Legal Adviser, and the National Youths Coordinator. It is not mandatory for every Executive Officer of an organisation to seek reelection’’.
They urged members of the Okpe Union in various branches of the Union and the people of the Okpe Nation at home and in the Diaspora to go about their normal activities, reject any acts or machinations calculated to further destabilise the Okpe Union and keep supporting the Okpe Union National Executive Council led by Prof. Igho Natufe.
Eighteen-Eleven Media