Few hours to the December 5 Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) national election, the Project Rescue Urhobo (PRU) has raised serious concerns over the credibility of the forthcoming exercise.
It alleged that the process had been fundamentally compromised by repeated violations of the UPU Constitution.
In a statement, yesterday, signed by its Convener, Noble Otadaferua; Secretary, Daniel Etaga, and Publicity Secretary, Peter Darah, the group accused the National Executive Council (NEC) and the electoral committee of systematically breaching key constitutional provisions, thereby undermining transparency, fairness, and the integrity of the electoral process.
According to PRU, the crisis stems from the refusal of the NEC and the electoral committee to publish essential information required ahead of the election.
The group alleged that the bodies failed to release the official list of branches and sub-branches as mandated by Article 21.2(h) of the UPU Constitution, but instead, started manipulating and altering branch structures in secrecy. This, they said, created confusion and enabled the manipulation of voter outcomes.
It also claimed that the delegates’ list was produced outside constitutional guidelines, in violation of Article 10.1, adding that delegates from branches less than 12 months old were allegedly included. The list was released late and kept hidden from aspirants, thereby robbing them of the opportunity to verify or object.
This, the PRU said, had constituted a direct assault on the structure of the yearly national congress.
The group, which further alleged that the electoral committee disregarded transparency rules under Article 22.2(h) by failing to release electoral guidelines on time, publishing them abruptly, and withholding them from aspirants, accused the committee of behaving “as though above the Constitution” by attempting to disqualify aspirants unlawfully, altering timelines without approval, and taking decisions beyond its mandate, among others.
The PRU said selective information sharing and hidden procedures had eroded neutrality and fairness, while actions taken by the NEC and the electoral committee contravened UPU’s values of unity.
It stressed that the cumulative effect of these alleged violations was devastating, saying that the election could not be free, fair, or credible under the current circumstances.
It, therefore, called for the immediate publication of all branches and sub-branches, release of the full delegates’ list, verification and publication of eligible branches, and clear communication of accreditation procedures before Congress.
