By Young E. Freeborn, Warri
As Evwreni kingdom gears up for elections into community offices, Prince Kenneth Ukpebitere has countered a recent publication, by some members of the Ukpebitere royal family, claiming that the family did not endorse him as one of the contestants for the position of president general of Evwreni Clan Improvement Union in its upcoming 2023 elections.
Prince Kenneth Ukpebitere, in a response to the publication, told the members of his family and the public that, “the president-general of Evwreni kingdom is not a family inheritance, but is open to all eligible contestants in the entire kingdom.”
Addressing newsmen over the said publication at his residence in Evwreni town recently, Prince Ukpebitere said, “The position of the president-general of Evwreni kingdom is not Ukpebitere family’s inheritance. Therefore, no member of the family has the constitutional right to endorse me for the position of the president-general before I can contest for it. According to our union constitution, I have the right to contest for any position in the Evwreni Clan Improvement Union elections as a full indigene of Evwreni kingdom.
“However, my eligibility and credibility to contest for the position of the president-general can only be determined by the electoral committee formed by the Delta State government to screen all contestants into the different positions in the union and to also conduct free and fair elections at the end of the screening exercise.”
The Evwreni prince said that, “I have already summited my expression of interest letter to the appropriate quarters as required by the SSG. As soon as as I summited the letter, I begin to feel that, some of the contestants for the position of the president-general are afraid of my personality immediately they discovered that I have submitted my expression of interest letter and now fully ready to run the race with them.
“This is why they teamed up with some members of the Ukpebitere family to castigate and humiliate me with the said publication and vulgar utterances and statements in the social media as well. They think by doing so, I will then quit the race for them to continue. That’s a complete lie. I’m ever determined with the support of Evwreni people to win the position of the president-general in the elections. In fact, I have a well selected team with visionary ideas for these elections. The truth is that, if they are not afraid that I and my formidable team will win them in the elections, then they should come out boldly in the open field and let’s slug it out on the election day,” he said.
Prince Ukpebitere however expressed his heartfelt appreciations to all his supporters “especially respected Evwreni leaders” that have trust and confidence on him and his team. He promised to take Evwreni kingdom to the next level of infrastructural development, government presence, youth empowerment, renewed hope of unity, peace and love amongst Evwreni people if elected as the next president-general of Evwreni kingdom. He therefore called on all the election delegates from the various communities in Evwreni kingdom and ECIU branches across the globe to vote for him and his team en’mass on the election day.
