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The president-general of Evwreni kingdom, Chief Kenneth Ukpebitere, has denied media reports that he purportedly manipulated the electoral process of the Unenurhie community to elect the present leaders of the community.
In his defence, the Evwreni President General, Chief Ukpebitere, described one of the contestants in election, Mr. Kingdom Okpavwarire and his supporters, as being like those catching the air in their hands, adding that their accusations are baseless and fake.
Hear him: “In every contest or competition, there must be winners and losers. When you fail as a contestant in an election, accept defeat in the spirit of sportsmanship and as a good leader. There is time for another day. I want to advise Mr. Kingdom Okpavwarire to congratulate all those that won the election especially Mr. Williams Ilayah who won the position of the president of the community.
“This is a good path to reconciliation and settlement. He should forget about all these political rigmarole practices. He’s painting himself more black before the Unenurhie people. He should be bold enough to congratulate all the winners. He should be wise enough not to listen to those political gladiators behind him. They are only pushing him into a deep pit.”
Speaking further on the alleged accusations, the Evwreni president-general said, “Today, I’m the President General of Evwreni kingdom. The Unenurhie community we are talking about is a community in Evwreni kingdom. So if I’m there during their elections, it’s not out of place.
“I went there as a peacemaker and also as election observer. I make sure that, the election was conducted free and fair and based on the constitution of the community. That’s exactly what I did there.
“What actually brought argument during the elections was the issue of delegate list to be used to conduct the elections. The Ughelli North local government chairman insisted that, they must use the one with him while those from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Asaba said, their list is authentic. At the end, all the stakeholders and parties to the elections now come to agreement that, an open ballot system should be used to involve all the members of the community.
“This was done to avoid further postponement because the election has being postponed for two consecutive times based on the same electoral inadequacies . So it was a consensual agreement on the part of the Unenurhie people. All I did was to make sure that, the elections was conducted free and fair and in a peaceful environment.”
The Evwreni PG therefore advised the members of the public to disregard the said media report castigating him of rigging the elections to favour some persons in the community.
