Breaking News

The breaking news report on the website www.urhobo.org (click here to read) on the matter pending before a court in Chicago, IL, U.S.A. has attracted our attention. This information began to circulate within the Urhobo community on Friday morning, January 13, 2006 under the signature of Dr. Odemerho. Later that day, Mr. Chris Uvieghara, Secretary of UNANA issued a release that offered a contrary reading of what transpired at the Cook County Circuit Court.

In conformity with our mission; that is, to bring about change in the way Urhobo do business, we undertook an independent investigation to establish first, what the case is about and secondly, the decision of the court.

Our investigation has revealed that UNANA filed a case to prevent the inauguration of Mr. Omene as President and question the legitimacy of his claim. The initial court date was Thursday, January 12, 2006. While the judge refused to grant an injunction because the case was not filed in a timely manner, the judge made it clear that Mr. Omene will be moving forward at his own risk. The case was postponed till January 24, 2005 for hearing. Thus, no decision has been entered on the substantive case.

Reproduced below are the e-mails released by Mr. Uvieghara and Dr. Odemerho.
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Fodems@cs.com, fodemerho@yahoo.com, aaododo@yahoo.com, aasidi@hotmail.com, Agbivera@aol.com, AGHOGHO@aol.com, omene@sbcglobal.net, Omobirej@aol.com, onaapela@yahoo.com, Ophorid@mail.montclair.edu, oropkauvo@aol.com, OVWA22@aol.com, ovade@msn.com, Prosan99@aol.com, PTUOMA@aol.com, rapidoptics@yahoo.com, Rayogbe@aol.com, Sagbigbe@aol.comDate: Fri, 13 Jan 2006 23:59:24 –0800
Subject: Re: Cook County Circuit Court Denies Chris Uvieghara's Application to st...
From: "Chris I Uvieghara" <ciuvieghara@juno.com>

Dear All:
It's a shame once again that someone of Dr. Odemerho's caliber would misrepresent facts; this time of a court order. The case in court has just started, so how can any honest person report that the "...judge ruled that the case has no merit"? That a temporary relief by way of an injunction, or a restraining order, was not granted does not mean the case has no merit. The court has not even addressed the merits of the case; in fact we have a future court date on January 24th. If the judge had ruled that the case has no merit, how come we have a future court date? Prudence will dictate that you don't toot your horn when you don't know what the outcome of any litigation will be.

It's my understanding that the judge had stated that if at the end of the day it turns out that Mr. Oghenovo Omene had installed himself President when he is not lawfully supposed to do so, it will be "meaningless" and he will be doing so at his own "risk." Since we are in litigation, one will only hope that people like Dr. Odemerho will stop misrepresenting facts, more especially of court orders. As they say, a word is enough for the wise.

Any discerning person will know that nobody in the current UNANA leadership wants to perpetuate himself in office. We are in this on grounds of principle, and the simple fact that we cannot allow fraud and dishonesty (the ills we decry back home), to destroy our cherished association. Unfortunately, it has become evident that hanging a certificate on your wall does not mean one has integrity and good character. There are many illiterates out there who are honest, who will stand by the truth, who will not resign from positions of trust because they will annoy the evildoers if they were to do a good job, and who would not have behaved the way some of our Ph.D.s have behaved within the past year. It's such a shame.

Thank you,

Chris Uvieghara

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 20:28:14 EST Fodems@cs.com writes:
My Dear Urhobo Sons and Daughters,

We are happy to announce that the Judge at the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago has denied the application of Chris Uvieghara to stop the inauguration of the duly elected UNANA president scheduled for Saturday, January 14, 2006.

The judge ruled that the case has no merit. We shall post the transcript of the court judgment in our website (www.urhobo.org) in the next few days.

It is a shame that Chris Uvieghara and his friends will go to any length to perpetuate themselves in office.

We have attached the program of events for the inauguration of UNANA 8th President to be held on Saturday, January 14, 2006.

Please join us in congratulating the President Elect Engr. Oghenovo Omene once again. It is not too late to join us in the inauguration ceremony tomorrow.

Thank you all.

Francis Odemerho, Ph.D.