Edo State Chief Press Secretary

07/10/2026

PRESS RELEASE

NO 540/ EDSGH/2026
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, EDO STATE

2027 Elections Defining Year for Nigeria’s Growth, Development — Governor Okpebholo

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has urged Nigerians to take the 2027 general election seriously, as the poll will determine whether the country consolidates its current path to growth and development or returns to retrogression.

Governor Okpebholo, stated this while addressing All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters during the party’s mobilisation campaign for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in Akoko-Edo and Etsako West Local Government Areas of Edo State.

The governor, who visited Azane Model Primary School in Ibillo and Igarra, the administrative headquarters of Akoko-Edo, also addressed party members at the Auchi Township Stadium and Azama Primary School, Ikpe-Uzuirue, in Etsako West.

“2027 is a defining year for Nigeria’s growth and development. This is the year we are voting for our president, Senators, House of Representatives members and House of Assembly members to finish the good work our president commenced,” Governor Okpebholo said.

He commended President Tinubu for removing fuel subsidy, describing it as a major step towards addressing economic challenges that had hindered Nigeria’s growth and development.

He said the reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration, particularly the fuel subsidy removal, would yield long-term benefits for the country, adding that Nigerians would begin to feel the impact of the reforms.

The governor also pledged that his administration would continue its infrastructure development programme to ensure that the three senatorial districts of Edo State benefited from what he described as practical governance.

Responding to requests by residents of Akoko-Edo for the provision of a transformer and rehabilitation of the area’s water board, Governor Okpebholo promised swift intervention.

“The step-down transformer you requested will be provided and it’s a package we will deliver to make you know that I am a son of President Tinubu,” he said.

He also directed that the appropriate ministry assess the condition of the water board and recommend measures for its rehabilitation.

“I will inform the necessary ministry to visit this place and recommend to us what should be done to revive the water board here. We will do all to ensure that we resolve and find solutions to the water problem facing our people here,” he said.

The governor further promised to rehabilitate a bridge linking Ibillo, which he said had been badly damaged by flooding.

“When I was coming to Ibillo here, I saw the bridge leading to this place in a bad shape. The bridge is almost washed away by flood. I will get an expert to fix the bridge and make it motorable,” Governor Okpebholo said.

Deputy Governor Dennis Idahosa commended the governor for what he described as efforts to restore security in Edo State.

Idahosa said the administration had tackled cult-related killings, kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities, adding that residents were beginning to experience improved security.

“Before you became the governor of Edo State, there was a lot of insecurity in the State. You came and began to tackle it and evidence shows you are winning the war against insecurity. Edo people are very happy for ensuring that peace returned to Edo State,” he said.

Former Edo governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole also praised President Tinubu for what he described as courage, determination and commitment to implementing fundamental reforms in the country.

He said Nigeria needed continuity and urged APC members to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election to enable him to complete his development agenda.

The Edo APC Chairman, Mr Jarrett Tenebe, urged residents of Akoko-Edo and Etsako West to vote massively for Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

Tenebe said the state needed the votes to strengthen its demand for the creation of additional local government areas.

He said collaboration among the governor, senators, members of the House of Representatives and the Edo State House of Assembly would help make the demand for new local government areas a reality.

Tenebe also urged party members to work towards achieving the 2.5 million votes promised Tinubu by the Edo APC.

The APC mobilisation train has so far visited 11 of Edo State’s 18 local government areas, including Oredo, Egor, Ikpoba-Okha, Orhionmwon, Uhunmwode, Ovia North-East, Ovia South-West, Owan East, Owan West, Akoko-Edo and Etsako West.

Signed:

Dr. Patrick Akhere Ebojele
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State
Wednesday, October 7,2026

06/10/2026

PRESS STATEMENT

STILL ON PA JOSEPH IDUORIYEKEMWEN.

We are delighted to announce that Pa Joseph has been released by the Nigeria Police. The initial report was that he was abducted around 4am in the early morning of Tuesday, until further clarifications were made that he was actually arrested following petition by some members of Amagba Community. Whatever be the motive, arresting a 90 years old and fragile man at 4am in such gestapo manner was a no-no for us. Governor Monday Okpebholo is a law abiding Governor whose approach to issues often follows due process and rule of law. At 90, Pa Iduoriyekemwen could have been invited to answer to issues raised in the petition, instead of this approach.

In Edo state, little issues often ignite passion and easily politicised to blackmail the government. We treat our elders with respect and decorum as a way to deepen our emotional intelligence in driving our governance agenda. People should respect the rule of law and due process to drive narratives that place Edo state at the epicentre of decency and common sense. We implore the Security agencies to apply the best of methods and approaches in dealing with petitions and issues that require clarification. Land ownership and acquisition must follow the pattern laid out by the Government of Edo state, in line with Governor Okpebholo's ongoing reforms to strengthen processes and documentations in the administration of lands. Anyone who tries to abuse the process, no matter how highly placed, will naturally face the full wrath of the law.

PRINCE KASSIM AFEGBUA
HON. COMMISSIONER FOR INFORMATION AND STRATEGY.
EDO STATE.

06/10/2026

https://clanreporters.com/2026/10/06/the-ballot-box-has-the-final-word/

By,Dr. Patrick Akhere Ebojele Big man Sonala Olumhense’s latest intervention on Edo State duly elected, INEC Certified and Supreme Court of Nigeria affirmed Governor Monday Okpebholo’s 2.5 million-vote target for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu come January 2027, makes a big mistake from the outset-...

06/10/2026

The Ballot Box Has The Final Word

By Dr. Patrick Akhere Ebojele

Big man Sonala Olumhense’s latest intervention on Edo State duly elected, INEC Certified and Supreme Court of Nigeria affirmed Governor Monday Okpebholo’s 2.5 million-vote target for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu come January 2027, makes a big mistake from the outset- even the visually impaired can see it but not the author. It is treating an election that is in the future, as though its result has already been calculated.

Olumhense’s arithmetic may look neat. But the politics is not. We do respect the elder as an accomplished columnist. But that does not make him a deity or a demon! His lame report of a 12-year-old walking six miles to an examination hall is strong. He knows too that emotion can not substitute for political analysis, just as past election figures can not predict a future election even with all the mathematical certainty. Moreso in our clime.

His submission is that if Edo recorded about 600,000 votes in the 2023 presidential election, a 2.5 million-vote target for 2027 is impossible. That is his very flawed conclusion. Perhaps amnesia has set in--Elections are not photocopies. Voters do not remain permanently attached to the choices they made two , three, or four years ago. Political alliances shift. Governments change. Candidates change. Party structures expand or die. AD, PDP, and labour are political parties that died! Campaigns alter perceptions. Most importantly, voters make new choices based on new circumstances.

And so Elder Olumhense’s purile figures prove only what happened in 2023. Peter Obi received 331,163 votes in Edo, while President Tinubu polled 144,471. These are undisputed facts, but why should they be treated as a political prophecy for 2027?

Edo politics has not remained frozen since 2023. Governor Monday Okpebholo represents the change in the political environment of Edo. Like he articulated, the 2023 figure was due to dissatisfaction with the beleaguered junta in the state at the time.

The elder then descends into the ridiculous when he suggests that Governor Okpebholo “did not really win” the 2024 Edo State governorship election. He did and not as a matter of political interpretation but of judicial record. And since Sonala lives in a faraway hamlet in his location abroad and is cut off from the rest of the global village, his challenge can be understood on this score. Shame.

Unknown to him, the Supreme Court, sitting as the final court in Nigeria, unanimously affirmed Okpebholo’s election. That decision followed judgments by the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, both of which rejected the challenge by the petitioners.
The Court even noted that the petitioners challenged results from only 395 of 5,019 polling units and failed to discharge the burden of proof required to overturn the election. Three levels of court examined the evidence. Three levels reached the same conclusion. But Elder Sonala Olumhense can choose to play the ostrich

As a columnist, he is entitled to dislike a result. He is entitled to criticise the process or argue that the political contest was imperfect. What he can not reasonably do is turn a settled judicial decision into a matter of personal arithmetic. This can only depress his ilk.

Just as well is his claim that Governor Okpebholo’s 291,667 votes were somehow insignificant.
But they are votes that were sufficient for him to win the election. This was a was not confined to the governor’s traditional political strongholds but statewide.But how can someone so cut off from reality comprehend such?

In Oredo Local Government Area, the home base of the former Governor Godwin Obaseki, the APC secured 30,780 votes against the PDP’s 24,938. That result alone should caution anyone against assuming that Edo voters can be permanently assigned to one political camp.

What of the July 11, 2026, local government elections? The Edo State Independent Electoral Commission declared APC winner of all 18 chairmanship positions and all 192 councillorship seats. Twelve political parties participated in the election. Agreed, a local government election is not a presidential election. Nobody seriously should claim otherwise. It, however, provides a snapshot of the current political reality in Edo. It says something about party organisation, grassroots mobilisation, and the ability of APC as a political party to reach voters across the 18 local government areas.

Those are precisely the structures that will matter in 2027. On the 2.5 million target itself, Mr Olumhense is free and can argue that the number is too high, politically extravagant, or difficult to achieve. What he can not establish from previous election figures is that it is impossible. It is a target and not a result. Governor Okpebholo is not claiming that he has already received 2.5 million votes. He is setting a political mobilisation target for his party. The voters will decide whether that target is achieved. That distinction should ordinarily not be difficult to understand.

The more question now is, what Edo voters will consider when they enter polling booths in 2027. Will they look at roads? Security? Schools? Healthcare? Salaries? Infrastructure? Government performance? The strength of political parties? Their personal economic circumstances? Certainly.
That is why the performance of Governor Okpebholo since November 2024 deserves more scrutiny than a lengthy excursion into the governor’s schooling and personal history.

If the argument is about what will determine how Edo people vote, then the policies, programmes, and results of the government should be at the center of the discussion. The governor has made a big promise. His political opponents should test it.

Edo is not a spreadsheet. The 2023 figures belong to 2023. The 2024 governorship election belongs to 2024. The 2026 local government election belongs to 2026. The 2027 presidential election will be decided by voters in 2027. When the votes are counted, we will know whether Okpebholo’s 2.5 million target was achievable, ambitious, or wildly optimistic.

Until then, the ballot box—not an aging columnist’s calculator—should have the final word.

Dr. Ebojele has his PhD. in Public Administration and is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State.

06/10/2026

October 5, 2026

GOVERNMENT SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The Edo State Government wishes to inform the general public that the Executive Governor of Edo State, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has approved the appointment of Dr. Ojiezele Alimhianga Augustine as the Director General of the Edo State Roads Fund Board (EDSRFB).

Dr. Ojiezele is a seasoned Financial Management professional with over three decades of experience in the Nigerian Public Service. He has served in various senior accounting and administrative capacities, acquiring extensive experience and expertise in public sector financial management and administration.

His wealth of experience and professional expertise will be invaluable to the effective discharge of the mandate of the Edo State Roads Fund Board and the achievement of its objectives.

The appointment takes immediate effect.

Umar Musa Ikhilor, Esq.
Secretary to the State Government

06/10/2026

PRESS RELEASE

NO 539/EDSGH/2026
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, EDO STATE

President Tinubu’s Support Helping Us Fight Insecurity in Edo, Says Gov Okpebholo

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has attributed the gains recorded by his administration in the fight against insecurity to the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The governor spoke during a tour of Edo North Senatorial District by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to sensitise party members ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The governor and his entourage visited Olegauma Primary School, Uzebba Illeha; Obe Primary School, Sabongidda-Ora; Afuze Mini Stadium; and Abadakhigua Primary School, Otuo, in Owan West and Owan East Local Government Areas of Edo State.

Okpebholo said the political will and strength to tackle kidnapping, cultism, banditry, and other forms of criminality in the state came from the support of the Tinubu administration.

“The political will and strength I have to fight insecurity in the state is because of the support from President Tinubu. The strength to fight kidnapping, cultism, banditry, and other criminality in the state is as a result of the support from Mr. President,” he said.

He also said the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government had increased the resources available to state governments for development.

“We pay salaries as at when due. We have successfully changed the narrative, and our people are enjoying practical governance,” Okpebholo said.

The governor said the improved security situation had allowed residents to return to their farms without fear of kidnapping.

“Today our people are no longer afraid of kidnappers as we have put them under check and our people can now go to the farm. We have also ensured no cult killings again in Edo State. We have achieved this because of the political will and support of President Tinubu,” he said.

Okpebholo said the tour was also aimed at enabling him to see firsthand the challenges confronting residents across the communities.

He said he noticed two bad portions of the road while traveling from Owan West to Owan East and directed the Commissioner for Works to mobilise and fix them.

“This is the reason why I embarked on this tour to see for myself the challenges facing the people in various communities across the state. Now I have come and seen, and it will be followed with solutions,” he said.

On the 2027 presidential election, Okpebholo urged APC members to support Tinubu’s re-election bid, declaring that there would be no vacancy in Aso Rock.

“I am here to identify with you and also let you know we have our candidates. The President is still contesting for the presidency, and there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2027 as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will retain his office,” he said.

The governor commended APC members in Edo North for their support during his governorship election and the local government elections, urging them to increase their efforts ahead of the 2027 elections.

Former Edo governor and senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, also urged Nigerians to support the APC, saying the party had the experience and candidates required to continue the country’s development.

Oshiomhole dismissed the political ambitions of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, describing their proposed political combination as “a formula that will not work for Nigeria.”

The Edo APC Chairman, Jarrett Tenebe, who received defectors into the party, urged members to focus on issue-based campaigns and grassroots mobilisation.

“We don't need to fight to achieve the 2.5 million votes for President Tinubu. Let us embark on the campaign of ideas, not to fight. Our party leaders have done so much for Nigerians, and all we need to do is to support President Tinubu to complete his good works of development,” Tenebe said.

The party leader in Owan West Local Government Area, Lucky Ohimai, commended Okpebholo for his developmental efforts across the state.

Ohimai assured the governor that residents of Owan would continue to support his administration and work towards delivering the 2.5 million votes promised to Tinubu in the 2027 election.

Okpebholo was accompanied by his deputy, Dennis Idahosa; Oshiomhole; Tenebe; his deputy, Sylvester Aigboboh; APC Secretary Lawrence Okah; Chief of Staff Yakubu Musa; former Edo Deputy Governor Peter Obadan; Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Yekini Idiaye, and other party leaders.

Signed:

Dr. Patrick Akhere Ebojele
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State.
Tuesday, October 6,2026

05/10/2026

05/10/2026

World Teacher's Day Celebration

05/10/2026

PRESS RELEASE

NO 538/ EDSGH/2026
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, EDO STATE

WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY: GOVERNOR OKPEBHOLO COMMENDS TEACHERS’ DEDICATION, SACRIFICES

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has commended Edo teachers for their dedication, sacrifice and commitment to educating the next generation, assuring them that his administration will continue to prioritise their welfare and improve the education sector.

In a message to mark the 2026 World Teachers’ Day, the governor said teachers hold the key to the development of every society, noting that meaningful progress depended on investing in those responsible for preparing children and young people for the future.

He thanked public school teachers for their service and patriotism, saying their work extended beyond the classroom to shaping the values, skills and character of future leaders.

“Today, we celebrate our teachers who have continued to serve our children and our state with dedication, despite the challenges they face. I want to assure every teacher in Edo State that your welfare matters to us and that we will continue to take practical steps to improve your working conditions.

“Our administration believes that quality education starts with motivated and adequately supported teachers. We will therefore continue to invest in our teachers, our schools and the wider education system,” he said.

The governor said his administration had absorbed 5,000 contract teachers into the state civil service, providing them with greater job security while 6,000 teachers were recruited to address staffing shortages in public schools.

“We cannot build schools and leave them without teachers. Our priority is to ensure that our children have access to qualified teachers, whether they are in Benin City or in our rural communities,” he said.

The governor congratulated teachers across Edo State, saying, “To every teacher in Edo State, I say thank you for your service. Happy World Teachers’ Day.”

Signed:

Dr. Patrick Akhere Ebojele
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State
Monday, October 5,2026

04/10/2026