BENIN CITY, NIGERIA — Ahead of the highly anticipated 2027 presidential election, the Executive Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has made a series of explosive political allegations, claiming that disgruntled opposition figures are intentionally sponsoring and weaponizing the recent wave of domestic insecurity to systematically distract and undermine the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The governor made the remarks on Tuesday afternoon during the official flag-off ceremony of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign for the forthcoming Local Government Council elections, held in the Edo South Senatorial District. Addressing a massive gathering of party loyalists, grassroots mobilizers, and legislative candidates, Okpebholo delivered a fiery, unyielding address designed to reinforce the ruling party's absolute dominance while dismissing the electoral ambitions of rival political networks.
In a stunning and highly dramatic declaration on the campaign podium, the Edo State Chief Executive underscored the desperation of the unnamed political actors, suggesting they would go to any lengths to destabilize the federal government, including targeting top political figures.
"They can even kidnap all of us—yes, there is no vacancy in Aso Rock," Governor Okpebholo exclaimed, directly confronting the security challenges facing the country. He noted that the sudden, calculated spike in criminal activities, including high-profile abductions and regional banditry, is not a coincidence but a deliberate, orchestrated sabotage campaign explicitly engineered to tarnish the leadership, operational image, and economic triumphs of President Bola Tinubu as the political landscape shifts toward the 2027 general elections.
The governor reasoned that promoting widespread insecurity and generating public panic would fail to guarantee the perpetrators their desired seats in the Senate, the House of Representatives, or the presidency. He insisted that the current administration retains a firm grip on the state machinery and that the executive mansion in Abuja remains completely insulated from political opportunism.
"There is absolutely no vacancy in Aso Rock. What the nation is witnessing today across various geopolitical zones is entirely the handiwork of the desperate political opposition," Okpebholo stated during his broadside. "They have failed completely. Have they not failed the Nigerian people before? Is it by kidnapping innocent school children that you expect to win power? Then who exactly are you going to govern when you destroy the society? There will be absolutely nobody left for you to govern. So let them stop this madness, give us peace, and allow us the spatial stability to rule this country well."
Defending the performance of the federal government, Governor Okpebholo argued that President Tinubu has done significantly more to advance the structural and economic fortunes of the West African nation than his immediate predecessors in office. He noted that while the initial impact of the federal government's bold economic reforms—specifically the total removal of the controversial fuel subsidy regime—had introduced temporary transitional pains, the long-term benefits are now being tangibly felt through increased revenue allocations that are currently funding massive, visible infrastructure projects dotting the landscape of Edo State.
The governor highly commended the various APC aspirants who successfully navigated the party's rigorous primary election processes to emerge as the official flagbearers for the forthcoming local government council polls. He framed the municipal elections as a critical litmus test for the state chapter, asserting that a sweeping victory for the APC across all local government areas would serve as a powerful, undeniable signal of the party's capacity to comfortably deliver the 2.5 million votes formally pledged by Edo State to President Tinubu's 2027 re-election campaign.
Speaking earlier during the campaign launch, the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Jarrett Tenebe, described the APC as the only viable, structurally sound, and ideologically focused political party operating in Edo State. He urged the newly minted council candidates to aggressively take the message of Governor Okpebholo’s rapid developmental strides to the innermost nooks and crannies of their respective domains, tasking them to replicate the governor's signature infrastructure and social welfare programs within their local government councils upon assumption of office.
The definitive high point of the heavily attended political event was the formal unveiling and presentation of flags to the Edo South candidates by the governor. The high-profile list of candidates presented to the cheering crowd included prominent political heavyweights such as Hon. Ogbeide Ihama, who is flying the party's flag for the elite Edo South Senatorial seat, alongside Dr. Paddy Iyamu for the Oredo Federal Constituency, and Hon. Omorede Igbinedion for the Ovia Federal Constituency, among several other influential regional leaders.
As the APC solidifies its campaign machinery in the South-South geopolitical zone, Okpebholo's public rhetoric highlights a growing determination within the ruling party to frame the nation's complex security challenges through a partisan lens, setting up a high-stakes narrative battle as the country marches steadily toward the 2027 general elections.
