OPU elections: Otekpo rejects results, heads to court

A contestant for the position of President General of Ozoro Progress Union (OPU) during its recently concluded elections, Prince Patrick Otekpo, has rejected the result of the elections, stating that he would seek justice in court.

Otekpo, who addressed a press conference in his country home in Ozoro, Delta State, alleged that the election was characterised with malpractices.

According to him, the constitution of the union, which provides the guideline for the election, was jettisoned during the exercise.

The human rights activist further alleged that persons who were not delegates and non-members of the electoral committee were allowed to hijack ballot boxes, which affected the outcome of the election.

“I am determined to serve my people with passion, loyalty, love and in obedience to the customary and traditional laws embedded in the constitution of OPU. But to my greatest dismay, the constitution which is the voice of Ozoro Kingdom, that stipulates that anyone aspiring as a contestant for the position of President General (PG) must poses a degree/HND equivalent was totally violated,” he alleged.

He added that item nine on page 29 of the constitution, which states that electoral committee shall screen the certificates of all candidates aspiring for the positions of President General, Vice President General and Secretary General at the OPU Executive Council Secretariat, was jettisoned, thereby paving way for the emergence of ‘anointed’ candidates as winners of the election.

He, therefore, declared his resolve to approach the court for justice. He appealed to all patriotic members of the kingdom to support his efforts to reclaim his ‘stolen’ mandate.