Oldest registered ethnic organisation in Nigeria, Okpe Union Worldwide, has faulted the endorsement of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State as the sole candidate of the Urhobo Nation for the 2027 governorship election.
President-General of the union, Professor Igho Natufe, also urged Urhobo traditional rulers to reverse their support for him to protect the sanctity of their thrones.
Natufe, in a statement, warned that no monarch should campaign for any candidate, saying such an act would betray those they rule.
He said traditional rulers who could not stay out of politics should vacate their thrones and join political parties of their choice.
He stated: “If the Forum of Urhobo Traditional Rulers, as claimed, endorsed Sheriff Oborevwori as the sole candidate of the Urhobo Nation for the 2027 governorship election and subsequently decreed that no other Urhobo governorship aspirant would be received or given royal blessings by traditional rulers in Urhobo land, it is an unashamed mockery of the concept of being apolitical.
“This declaration has brought grave disrepute to their respective thrones and dishonour to their titles. Otherwise, they should be prepared to be treated as politicians, with all the consequences attached to electioneering campaigns.
“By doing so, Okpe ethnicity has been subsumed under an Urhobo appellation, which is diametrically opposed to historical facts as well as to his own stated position affirming Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality.
“Our people are rooted in migration from the Bini Kingdom. This historical experience is similar to that of most other ethnic nationalities of the Western Niger Delta. Of all these nationalities, however, Okpe history, language, tradition and culture are closer to those of Bini, which forms part of the Edo group of languages.
“Okpe is indubitably known to be a distinct and autonomous kingdom, an ethnic entity from its beginning. The people and their language are distinct and are named after their progenitor, Okpe, whose four sons founded the present-day Okpe Kingdom.
“By campaigning for a person, the traditional ruler transforms his palace into a campaign headquarters for the said political party or candidate, a transformation which vitiates the sanctity of the throne. This is injurious to the reputation of the throne as the traditional ruler becomes a messenger, an errand man of the government. Prestige is lost, and the reputation of the kingdom is compromised.
“No traditional ruler is in a position to assure political parties of how Deltans and Okpe nationals will vote in any election. We are in a democratic polity, and not in a dictatorial or an absolute monarchical system. Traditional rulers must stay out of politics or disrobe themselves of their kingships and join political parties of their choice. It is disingenuous of them to hide behind the sanctuary of their palaces and engage in partisan politics under a dubious claim of being ‘apolitical’. Deltans, including Okpe nationals, will vote their conscience and discard the diktat of traditional rulers.
“At a reception welcoming the First Lady, Senator Mrs Remi Tinubu, in Asaba, Delta State, in late March 2025, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM Orhue I, the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, declared that ‘come 2027, we Deltans will vote for President Tinubu’. This was not the precursor of the political misadventure by Delta State’s traditional rulers.
“During the campaign for the 2023 national elections, for example, the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom’s renegade faction of the Okpe Union urged Okpe nationals to vote for ‘all’ candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. This interference of the Palace in partisan politics was designed to scuttle the chances of other Okpe nationals in rival political parties, for example, Okakuro Ede Dafinone of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Barr. Ben Etanabene of the Labour Party, LP, who won their elections to the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, despite the intrusion of the Palace. The will of the people must prevail over the dictatorial decree of any traditional ruler.”
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