It is increasingly becoming clear, that former Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi, has a hidden agenda, not only against the person and Office of the Deputy Governor of Delta State, His Excellency, Prof Amos Utuama, SAN, but also against the Urhobo Nation, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

There is hardly any other way to interpret his unprovoked and relentless attack on the person of the Deputy Governor as far as 2015 is concerned, than to see it in the light of an execution of a grand design to orchestrate division within the Urhobo Nation and create unnecessary disaffection within the party in the state.

Gbagi is a pathological liar driven by hallucination and illusion. First, at no time did Prof Utuama tell Gbagi that he is from Udu; at no time did he tell Gbagi that he is from Bayelsa; at no time did he discuss his age with Gbagi and at no time did he discuss his future with Gbagi.

Secondly, Gbagi must be told that all the ancestors of Prof Utuama, his grandparents – paternal and maternal and his immediate parents – were all buried in Otu Jeremi. His grandfather was the Okpako Orere of the town in his days. Besides, Prof Utuama is a proud scion of the Okperon family, one of the 12 families that founded Otu Jeremi.

Thirdly, it is true that Prof Utuama taught Gabgi Land Law at the University of Lagos, but he wishes to say that Gbagi was not one of such students one would cherish or remember on account of his brilliance. He was on the contrary a very dull student.

We wish to state for the umpteenth time, that Prof. Utuama is not in any competition whatsoever with Gbagi. Prof Utuama is a man of class and, of course, class is permanent. Gbagi’s refusal to heed well-meaning advice from sundry groups of the Urhobo Nation, Elders and Leaders of the PDP in Ughelli South Local Government Area and well-meaning individuals from Ughievwen Kingdom, to stop his attacks on the man who was his lecturer, is symbolic of an ear that is averse to reason. Of course, those whom the gods will destroy, they first strike mad.

As a lawyer, Gbagi knows the implications of any published material that willfully and maliciously damages the reputation, image and personality of any individual. In his rabid drive to tarnish the good image of the Deputy Governor, Gbagi was quoted in the Vanguard of Tuesday, February 4, 2014,on page 37, as saying that Prof Utuama is not from Ughelli South, not an Urhobo son and not from Delta State. He actually suggested that Prof Utuama is from Bayelsa State. This is the height of hallucination and verbal diarrhea.

Gbagi is not the father or mother of Prof Utuama, so he could not pontificate on the age of the Deputy Governor. No provision in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, placed an age limit on any person who so wishes to contest any elective post at any election. Needless to say, the offensive publication has been referred to our legal advisers for necessary action.

The pertinent questions for Gbagi are: Will only Ughelli South or the Urhobo Nation decide the 2015 Governorship election in Delta State? Did Prof Utuama, at anytime, tell Gbagi he wants to contest? If Prof Utuama chooses to contest, can a Gbagi stop him? If the truth be told, is there any other person more qualified for the position of Governor of the State than Prof Utuama? The answer, of course, is no. What is Gbagi afraid of, if he does not have a hidden agenda?

We wish to call on all Urhobo sons and daughters, both at home and in the Diaspora, to vehemently reject this hidden and sinister agenda by Gbagi to divide them and pull down their illustrious son who has, through their enormous support and goodwill, attained an enviable political height.

Prof Utuama will not be distracted by the antics of Gbagi. All he desires is the continued unity, peace, progress and prosperity of the Urhobo Nation and Delta State as a whole. He will continue to cooperate with and support His Excellency, the Governor of Delta State, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan CON, to finish strong in his visionary bid to take Delta State Beyond Oil.

•Augustine Avwode, Press Secretary to the Delta State Deputy Governor, writes from Asaba. Photo shows Kenneth Gbagi.

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