PH Mundial – Port Harcourt Online Newspaper News Across The Region
Related Articles
By Young E. Freeborn, Warri
The Otota’Rode (Speaker) of Unenurhie community, Engr. Chief Frank Imudje, has cleared the air over insinuations that he was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Evwreni Ward in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
He told our correspondent during a media chat in his residence that, he was never a card-carrying member of APC or any other political party as a community leader and a high-ranking member of the Odion’Rode Council of Chiefs/Elders in his community.
He said: “I have been hearing the rumour being spread around the community and to other places by some evil people to blackmail my name and my title that I’m a card-carrying member of the APC. I want to clear this rumour. I’m not a member of the APC or any other political party in the community.
“I’m a high-ranking member of the traditional council of our monarch. In fact, I’m next in hierarchy to the traditional ruler. By virtue of this title and privilege, after the traditional ruler, I’m the next father to the entire community. I can never be in partisan politics. I’m a father to all the candidates from the different political parties. I’m a father to all the people in the community. All I can do as a father is to offer prayers for those candidates who seek my prayers. This is the much I can do and not participate in party activities or partake in their meetings.
“I never at any time planned with anybody to hold APC Elders’ meeting in my house in the Unenurhie community because I’m not their member. I’m only permitted by our traditional laws to hold community meetings and also to hold my family meetings. Outside these ones, I can’t call or attend any party meetings without the approval of our monarch and the traditional council, which is not the case here. Therefore, anybody saying I called an APC meeting to my house is saying that only to cause confusion and potential crisis in the community.”
The community leader further said: “However, as a citizen of Nigeria, I have the fundamental right to cast my vote to any candidate of my choice. This is what I must do. I’m never bound by traditional laws not to cast my vote in the election days. But I want politicians in Evwreni Ward and across the state to know that, anybody peddling the rumour that, I’m a member of APC is only saying that, to cause chaos and enmity in the community leadership which we won’t tolerate here.
“As a community leader, any candidate of any political party can pay a courtesy or consultation visit to me, our monarch, or to the traditional council. Doing this does not make me a member of that party. So many candidates of different political parties have paid such visits to me in the past. I don’t know why this one was designed in a different way by the APC people in the community. I believe they deliberately did it to tarnish my image and title in the community.
“The traditional council was not happy about it. This is why I considered it important to clear myself of all these rumours before the traditional council, members of the community, and the general public. In Urhobo and Isoko ethnic regions, it’s the same practice amongst traditional rulers and high members of their traditional councils not to participate in partisan politics. We can only play advisory and fatherly roles to candidates and party leaders. Ours is not different in making and practice,” he said.
