Chief Joseph Omene is the newly-emerged President-General of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) from the National Congress that was held in Mosogar, Ethiope West Local Government Area on December 3, 2016. The Congress has been a subject of serious controversy across the Urhobo nation. In this interview, Chief Omene averred that he has not breached any provision of the constitution so far and that there is currently no constituted Board of Trustee of the Union that has power to sack the current UPU national executive and conduct another congress as recently advertised in a local newspaper. He also suggested that the constitution is so rigid and arrogated too much power in the hands of the President-General. He therefore suggested an amendment of the constitution as a first step to resolving the crisis in the Urhobo Union.
Excerpts:
Only recently there was an advertorial in one of the local newspapers signed by Chief Barr. Victor Otomiewo to the effect that the current national executive of the UPU led by you has been sacked by the Board of Trustees and that a National Congress will be held soonest to elect another National Executive. What is your reaction to this advertorial?
In the first place, there is a provision in the constitution of the UPU for the board of trustees. But that board has not been inaugurated. Our late PG, Late Chief Patrick Aziza tried to constitute one. He was the chairman of the board of trustees. Chief Akpomudje (SAN) who is the National Secretary was made the Secretary of the Board of Trustees. The constitution says that the board of trustees shall have nine (9) members. So, the PG is free to pick other members from outside the UPU. The position of the constitution is that the President General will be the chairman of the board of trustees, except, if he so wished, he could appoint a former President-General or any other person of the rank of Deputy President-General to be chairman of the board of trustees.
Now, you can see that it is very funny when people who are supposed to educate others about the true position of things, are coming out to mislead them. You see, when you have somebody who is a lawyer in the caliber of Chief Victor Otomiewo, he is supposed to educate other people about the true position of things. The question is: when was the board of trustees inaugurated? The one he claims to be the secretary, when was it inaugurated? Who inaugurated it? That is question number one. Who is the chairman of the board of trustees, who are the other members? Apart from this, who and who were in that purported meeting, and who presided over that meeting where the board of trustees which he is now claiming has taken over the function of the national executive of UPU? If he (Otomiewo) is not misleading Urhobo, who is the chairman of that board of trustees he is now talking about?
The board of trustees has no such power to convey for a national congress to elect a new national executive of the UPU. The power of the BoT is to mediate. If there is any crisis, it is to mediate and look into the crisis in a way as mediator between UPU and a kingdom or between UPU executive members. The only body that can remove the national executive council is the national congress. That is the only body constitutionally-empowered to remove the national executive council. And only the President-General has the power to convey the national congress. So, you see the implication. Only the President General can direct the National Secretary to convey the national congress.
Some persons are insinuating that the current crisis in the UPU is being orchestrated by some politicians who want to hijack the structure. Do you share that view too?
Absolutely yes, and they are very well known to us. Some of them failed their election to national legislative body. Some want to retain their position in the State House of Assembly. Some failed their election to the State House of Assembly. These are the three key people. The fourth one was in the National Assembly but while there he was not seen to raise his hand to speak one day before he left the National Assembly. So, these are the key politicians behind it. Mind you, they are not fighting for the interest of the people. They are fighting for their personal interest. PDP as a party is not behind the crisis. APC as a party is not behind the crisis. Both parties are neutral. Even the governor, as far as we know, is neutral about the crisis because, maybe, he sees it as purely an Urhobo affair. These same politicians are trying to push him (the governor) to get involved, but so far he has remained neutral. They have sold all sorts of dummy to him that oh, this exco worked against you, let’s remove them but the governor, to the best of our knowledge, is playing a very neutral role in the crisis. But these key politicians are the ones spearheading everything. The one who failed to make it to the National Assembly is boasting that he wants to come back and he feels that the UPU may be a stumbling block. The one who failed to make it to the House of Assembly is being used by others because of his present state.
But I can tell you that no individual or group of individual can intervene in UPU affairs successfully. UPU will outlive all of us. There is no way I can do anything as to usurp the powers of UPU. I can only uphold the provisions of the constitution. I swore to uphold the constitution. So, whatever that I do or I’m going to do is going to be purely based on the provisions of the constitution. Of all these people, nobody has come to say oh, Chief Omene, the present President General has breached any provision of the constitution. So, if the man has not breached the constitution then what is your problem?
Quite apart from that too, nobody has come to say this is one decision that has been taken by Chief Omene unilaterally. Everybody is talking of Chief Omene as if there is no executive council. Every decision that has been taken by UPU has been a decision of the national executive council. There was no one unilaterally decision taken by Chief Omene. And if in an exco where you have two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), you have a retired Federal High Court judge, a retired General Manager of NNPC, Accountants and Engineers, you say these people are a group of dummies. And these Senior Advocates of Nigeria are well-respected all over the country. For example, one of them was called to the Nigeria Bar in 1971, about 45 years ago. And because you are a hired social media writer, you say what that man has done is wrong. Do you think I Chief Joseph Omene alone can dictate to such legal luminaries? Do you think because I’m the President General I can tell those top personalities the way they should go? So, those causing the crisis just want to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. There is no decision in UPU that was not debated by the executive council. UPU is unlike some other organizations where the chairman would not even read a document before signing it.
You were reported to have vowed to sue one of the Urhobo royal fathers for a publication that was allegedly libelous against your image. Are you still going ahead?
You see, I’m about 70 years old with some level of education. I have a Master degree, I have been into business, I’m a successful man at least to the level I want to live my life. I’m with children. Do you think I would just tolerate a situation where somebody would say, because he is a royal father, he would just smear my name? It is not acceptable to me. Even the President of the country cannot just wake up one day and libel an individual and expect to go free. So, if you are a royal father and you want people to respect you, you must first give respect to that throne before people would give you that respect. A royal father should not be seen talking like the way some are doing. What is going on today is very disturbing, disturbing in the sense that we have over fifty clubs and societies in Urhobo land. How can just two clubs who are not even near the shores of Urhobo (Urhobo Social Club is far away in Lagos), the Urhobo Historical Society’s chairman is based in the US. These are the people you called to come and sign a document to say that you have ostracized the leadership and executive of the revered UPU whereas ordinarily these clubs if they are there would have come to the UPU for registration. A body whose leadership would not bother to read a document before they sign it. A body such as Ukoko r’ivie where four or five members would say they did not hear of it (the document purportedly ostracizing the UPU exco), they did not see it, it was not brought to their meeting, don’t think something is wrong with it? Anybody who libels me I would take him to court because I have my name and the name of my family to protect. And those who are asking why I’m taking a royal father to court have no names to protect. If you are libeling the name of Omene where you have people who have been ambassador of Nigeria to different countries, people who have been federal permanent secretaries, people who have been MD of NDDC, professors, directors in World Health Organization, neurosurgeons, engineers and others bearing the name Omene and are members of the family, it is not possible. It is not acceptable. So, the best bet is for that person to retract such libelous publication. If don’t take you to court it means the name you have called me is correct.
This same forum of Ivie, I was in their midst and after stating my case, the person who accused me of taking N1.2 billion was asked to present his case. He told the kings that it was mere rumour. If you the kings have heard that and you now turned around to ask EFCC to come and probe me over N1.2 billion, if I sue you and take you to court you will have to prove it. Government does not die, the government that gave me N1.2 billion will say it.
What is the message for the Urhobo people?
UPU remains the same. UPU will outlive any Urhobo person that is alive today. It cannot be destroyed by an individual. Elections have come and gone, there is nothing any person can do about it because it was lawfully conducted. What any aggrieved Urhobo person ought to do is to sue for peace and that is what I’m doing. If we the Urhobo people feel that the UPU constitution we have now needs to be looked into, then we have to look into it. People can bring their contributions and we look into it to come up with a nationally-accepted constitution for the Urhobo nation. One thing that makes the black man not to progress is that he does not respect the rule of law. If a black person becomes rich he would want to do something outside the law and get away with it. If a black man is in the position of authority he would want to do something outside the law as long as it favours him. But I’m not that kind of person. I would not do anything outside the law. If I would do something outside the law, we scheduled the congress for Uvwiamuge. If you were there you would have observed that the whole place was jam-parked with vehicles and there were just about 15 policemen plus a pool of thugs they hired. If I had ordered that everybody should go inside the hall, they would not have been able to stop people. But that would have made me look like a lawless leader. I had to respect the order of the police not to go inside. And when I heard that they have also sealed off Okere office of UPU, our Exco met and we decided to relocate to Mosogar. It has happened before during the time of late Chief Benjamin Okumaga as the President General. When people wanted to hijack the UPU, Okumagba resisted it. They got to the PTI Conference centre the venue for the congress, it was sealed off. So, what did he do, he moved the congress to Idama Hotel. In Mosogar, nobody could have come to seal it off. So, that was what we did and thereafter people came to my compound for reception.
It wouldn’t have made sense for us to call off the congress because people came from far away Asia, Europe, America and from Africa, from far and near in Nigeria and they paid their air fares here. When they got here they stayed in the hotel for some days. And if you had told them that they cannot cast their votes, it would have been uncalled for. So, they were glad to come here to cast their votes and those who voted were almost 600 out of the 700 delegates. It was more than a quorum.
Do you see anything wrong with the UPU constitution and is so, what particular provisions? Secondly, there was this group from the US known as UPUA who have distanced themselves from the election. What is your reaction to that?
This is a very good question. They have ceased not to be a branch of the UPU for the past one year. We don’t know of any UPU America because the law governing the UPU is the constitution. And if any branch of UPU breaches the constitution the national executive council has the power to deregister you or to suspend you. Now, when in December last year some of the kings said that UPU exco has been dissolved, they were the only branch worldwide to accept it. And why it is painful is because America is seen to be the seat of democracy in the world. It was not a branch that is made of mainly illiterate people. They are people who went to the US, got educated and are working. They know the constitution and they have copies of the constitution. Some people went outside the constitution to do something wrong and you endorsed it.
You cannot parade yourself as members of that Union. They (UPUA) recognized the illegal interim committee of Ofotuku. Even when the kings reversed themselves, they still went ahead and invited Ofotuku. So, which Union are you members of? What happened was that they were thinking that the Ofotuku arrangement would succeed because they were already suspended. And when the game plan of Ofotuku failed they were feeling ashamed to come and apologize so that the suspension can be lifted, they were instead praying that the present exco could lose the election and when a new exco comes on their problem would have been over. Unfortunately, their suffering continues. That was why they now came up to say that injunction was imposed and that we flouted the injunction whereas while in court on Thursday, the presiding judge raised up the copy of the Vanguard newspaper where it was reported that the court granted an injunction. He told them that he did not grant an order for injunction. He queried how they came with the published report. The judge said he did not grant an order of injunction and did not restrain anybody.
This same ‘America’ who are expected to know better than any other branch still came up with a report in Urhobo Voice that UPU was restrained. Can you take such people serious? These are the facts. The court only said everybody should maintain status quo. What is status quo? UPU is still to function as it has been functioning. What UPU has been doing it is to continue to do. That is the meaning of status quo. But as for restraining the court said it has not restrained the UPU. They are just making mockery of themselves. So, as far as the UPU is concerned, there is no UPUA (UPU America). They have no respect for the constitution. For you to be a branch you must have respect for the constitution of the UPU. Even if the constitution is faulty, it must be amended first before you can do what you now wish to do. So, if you are a branch and you have no respect for the constitution of UPU, you are not qualified to be a branch.
I was asking if you find any fault in the constitution of the UPU?
You see, there is nothing made by man that can be free from mistake. What I see is that the constitution is so rigid and gives so much power to the President-General. There is also some kind of ambiguities in the constitution. The President General can ask anybody that he does not like his or her face during a national congress to leave the hall. He has power to ask anybody to leave the hall even in an exco meeting. The President-General has the power to walk out any member during a national executive meeting. To me, I must be frank with you, it is like concentration of so much power in the hands of the President General. And also, the President General can do so many other things he considers proper in the interest of the Urhobo nation. It depends on how you will interpret the phrase ‘any other thing’. It sounds vague.
The national executive council members of the UPU are like drivers of a vehicle. The vehicle is owned by all Urhobos. The vehicle is not just for the kings alone, it is for all Urhobos. The way the owner of a vehicle would want the driver to go is the way he will go. If the Urhobo people say there is the need to amend the constitution today, ok, let’s amend it. But when amending it we have to think first of the interest of all Urhobos, not the interest of politicians. But I tell you one thing, there is also wisdom in the way this constitution has been produced. If the constitution was not like this UPU would have scattered by now.
