By Edeki Igafe
The Urhobo Youth Leaders Association (UYLA), on Sunday staged a peaceful protest in solidarity with the Abubakar Atiku/Ifeanyi Okowa Presidential ticket.
The duo are contesting under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming general elections.
The group also drummed supports for the Speaker of the Delta House of Assembly and the PDP Governorship candidate in Delta, Mr Sheriff Oborevwori.
NAN reports that members of the group blocked the Okere Road in Warri South Local Government, chanting solidarity songs, and carrying placards with inscriptions such as: “Urhobos need Okowa and Atiku for 2023”, and “Okowa never betrayed anybody” among others.
The protesters, thereafter, marched to the Urhobo Cultural Centre in Warri South to register their grievance to the executive of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Worldwide.
Addressing the UPU executive, the President of UYLA, Mr Samuel Oghotomo, said that they came to notify the apex Urhobo umbrella body (UPU) of the manner the Urhobos were going about the political campaign.
Oghotomo said that political campaigns should be issue based rather than attacking one and another.
“The campaign of calumny, character assassination of brother against brother is against the progress of Urhobo as a nation,” he said.
Oghotomo urged the UPU to wade into the matter and call to order those indulged in “dragging their Urhobo brothers down because of primitive quest for power”.
Responding, Mr Ese Gram, the President-General of the UPU, Worldwide, said that the Urhobo people had lost so many things due to violence and riots.
“The UPU has no Youth wing presently. Since the coming into being of this current UPU administration, it is now we are meeting to take certain decisions.
“Unfortunately, in the heat of that meeting, you people came.
“At this particular moment, Okowa is the executive governor of Delta and he must be accorded with all deserving regards and respect at all times.
“So, we are not in support of anybody taking the laws into his hands as he promised to work for the interest of Urhobo nation,” he said. (NAN)
