Bugie Okhuemoi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and spokesperson to Governor Monday Okpebholo, has reiterated that The All Progressives Congress (APC) has the political structures to dominate Edo State ahead of the 2027 general elections, with opposition parties lacking an active presence in the state.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Okhuemoi said the APC had established political influence and structures across the state, arguing that electoral victories depended on organisation and mobilisation rather than public sentiment or anger against political opponents.
“There’s no NDC active in Edo state. There’s no ADC active in Edo state. Edo state is almost totally an APC state interms of influence.”
Discussing Okpebholo’s performance in office, his administration’s achievements and the governor’s pledge to deliver 2.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027election.
Okhuemoi said political parties needed functional structures and grassroots mobilisation to win elections. “Politics is not, like I’ve been telling a few of my buddies, particularly those on the other side, politics is not a guessgame. It’s not a game of luck. It’s an art, it’s a science, it’s strategic.”
He added that political parties could not rely on voters dissatisfaction with their opponents to secure electoral victories. “You cannot approach an election on sentiments or emotions, hoping that the people will be angry enough against youropponent to vote for you.”
Okhuemoi argued that the number of registered voters in Edo provided room for increased participation if more residentsregistered, collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and turned out on election day.
“Firstly, are there 2.5 million votes to be gotten in the state? Yes.”
He said Edo had about 2.8 million registered voters, while the previous figure stood at about 2.6 million. “The governor’s strategy was to increase voter participation through mobilisation at every stage of the electoral process.
“When it’s time for registration, mobilise as heavily as you can to get people to register. When it’s time for PVC collection, mobilise as heavily as possible as you can to ensure that they get their PVCs.”
Okhuemoi added that the APC would also mobilise voters to participate on election day.
“And then when it’s time for elections, you mobilise and ensure that they come out to vote.”
He also defended Okpebholo’s frequent references to Tinubu during project commissioning and other publicengagements. “The governor wanted residents to understand the Federal Government’s role in supporting hisadministration. The governor often attributed the funding and support behind projects in Edo to his relationship with the President.
“He started telling them at every opportunity, when he’s commissioning a project or when he’s flagging off a project, asthe people are celebrating, he immediately reminds them, I’m doing this because I have the support and because I havethis funding.”
Speaking on the governor’s second anniversary in office, Okhuemoi said the administration had adopted a people-centredapproach to governance, which he said was different from the previous administration’s style. “We have a government that is focused on the people, that’s people-centred, that’s people-influenced. We have agovernment that, a governor and a government that is approaching governance from the bottom up, compared to what wehad in the past, that was from top to bottom.”
He said the administration’s development plans were organised under the SHINE Agenda, which covers security, healthcare, infrastructure, natural resources, education and empowerment.
“On education, the government had absorbed 5,000 teachers previously employed on an ad hoc basis into the state’sfull civil service structure and recruited another 1,000 teachers.
“The government has recruited those 5,000 teachers into full civil service employment and has recruited about 1,000 moreteachers, with 3,000 in the offing to be done.”
Okhuemoi also said about 78 schools had been renovated, remodelled or reconstructed across the state. “About 78 schools have been renovated, remodelled, or reconstructed.”
He defended the increase in Edo’s domestic debt after the state was reported to have moved from the 12th tothe sixth most indebted state. “The increase resulted from a N100 billion contractor guarantee facility arranged by the state government toenable contractors to finance ongoing infrastructure projects.
“Let me state categorically that Governor Monday Okpebholo, all of Edo state has not borrowed a dime to fund capital orrecurrent expenses.”
Okhuemoi explained that the arrangement was designed to help contractors access bank financing. “So what the government did was to guarantee 100 billion Naira funding for contractors. I don’t mind mentioning thebank. It was the first bank, you know, and structured facility that makes money available to contractors.”
He added that the figure would be offset as contractors completed their projects and repaid the funds. “As the contractors are paid and they pay back, that figure is offset. So it wasn’t a loan taken by the governor directly.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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