President General of the Okpe Union Worldwide, Prof Igho Natufe, has attacked Delta monarchs over the endorsement of Governor Sheriff Francis Oborevwori as the sole candidate of the Urhobo Nation for the 2027 governorship election, urging Okpe nationals to vote according to their conscience.

Natufe also criticised the participation of the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, HRM Orhue I, in the gathering of the Forum of Urhobo Traditional Rulers, Ukoko R’Ivie R’Urhobo, where the endorsement was made.

The forum had endorsed Oborevwori as the sole candidate of the Urhobo Nation and declared that no other Urhobo governorship aspirant would be received or given royal blessings by traditional rulers in Urhobo land.

But Natufe said the declaration was inconsistent with the forum’s claim that it was apolitical.

“If the Forum of Urhobo Traditional Rulers, Ukoko R’Ivie R’Urhobo, remained strictly apolitical, as claimed by HRM Dr. Monday Obukohwo Whiskey, Udurhie I, Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom and spokesman of the forum, their endorsement of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Francis Oborevwori as the sole candidate of the Urhobo Nation for the 2027 governorship election and their subsequent decree that no other Urhobo governorship aspirant will be received or given royal blessings by traditional rulers in Urhobo land is an unashamed mockery of the concept of apolitical,” Natufe said.

He urged the traditional rulers to reverse the declaration, warning that their involvement in partisan politics could affect the standing of their traditional institutions.

“This declaration has brought grave disrepute to their respective thrones and dishonour to their HRM titles. Otherwise, they should be prepared to be treated as politicians with all the consequences attached to electioneering campaigns,” he said.

Natufe also faulted the Orodje’s participation in the gathering, alleging that it amounted to subsuming the Okpe ethnic identity under an Urhobo appellation.

According to him, this contradicted the monarch’s previous position that Okpe was a distinct ethnic nationality.

Natufe recalled a statement attributed to the Orodje during an engagement in North America in which the monarch said Okpe people had distinctive historical, cultural, traditional and linguistic roots.

“Our people are rooted in migration from the Bini Kingdom. This historical experience is similar to most other ethnic nationalities of the Western Niger Delta. Of all these nationalities however, Okpe History, language, tradition, and culture are closer to those of Bini which form part of the Edo group of languages,” he quoted the monarch as saying.

He also cited the position of the Udogun Okpe, which he described as the supreme organ for the traditional administration of the Okpe Kingdom, that Okpe was a distinct and autonomous ethnic entity.

“Okpe is indubitably known to be a distinct and autonomous Kingdom, an ethnic entity from its beginning. The people and their language are distinct and are named after their progenitor, Okpe, whose four sons founded the present day Okpe Kingdom,” he said.

Natufe further argued that traditional rulers should not determine how their subjects would vote in elections.

“No traditional ruler, including our Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, is in a position to assure political parties on how Deltans and Okpe nationals will vote in any election.

“We are in a democratic polity, and not in a dictatorial or an absolute monarchical system. Traditional rulers must stay out of politics or disrobe themselves from their kingships and join political parties of their choices,” he said.

He said Okpe nationals, like other Deltans, should be free to make their own political choices in the 2027 elections.

Natufe also referred to an event in Asaba in March 2025 where the Orodje, in his capacity as chairman of the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers, was reported to have declared that Deltans would vote for President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

He further alleged that during the 2023 general elections, a faction of the Okpe Union associated with the Orodje urged Okpe nationals to vote for all PDP candidates.

Natufe said Okakuro Ede Dafinone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the Delta Central Senatorial election, while Barrister Ben Etanabene of the Labour Party (LP) won the Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency election.

He therefore urged Okpe nationals to vote according to their conscience and choose candidates of their preference in the 2027 elections.

“The will of the people must prevail over the dictatorial decree of any traditional ruler,” he said.