Okpebholo Credits Tinubu for Edo Security Gains as APC Takes 2027 Message to Edo North.

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has attributed his administration’s progress against kidnapping, cultism and banditry to the backing of President Bola Tinubu, in a press release made on Tuesday, October 6th, 2026.

He spoke during a tour of Edo North Senatorial District by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), meant to rally party members ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Patrick Ebojele, the governor and his entourage visited four locations in Owan West and Owan East Local Government Areas: Olegauma Primary School, Uzebba Illeha; Obe Primary School, Sabongidda-Ora; Afuze Mini Stadium; and Abadakhigua Primary School, Otuo.

“The political will and strength I have to fight insecurity in the state is because of the support from President Tinubu,” Okpebholo said. He added that residents could now return to their farms without fear of kidnappers, and claimed there were “no cult killings again in Edo State.”

He also said the federal government’s removal of fuel subsidy had increased the funds available to states, allowing Edo to pay salaries “as at when due.”

Those claims are hard to square with recent reports from the same part of the state. Police said a mother and her three children were kidnapped from their farm in Okpella, Etsako East, on September 3rd and later rescued unhurt.

Last month, police paraded suspects accused of terrorising residents of Auchi, Jattu and Okpella. The state government itself has acknowledged the problem.

In June, it asked the Chief Judge to set up a special court for kidnapping and cultism cases, saying both crimes still posed threats in parts of the state. The Edo High Court later said the court would begin sitting in July.

Okpebholo said the tour also gave him a chance to see residents’ problems at first hand. He said he noticed two bad portions of road between Owan West and Owan East and had directed the Commissioner for Works to fix them. “Now I have come and seen, and it will be followed with solutions,” he said.

The governor then turned to the 2027 elections, urging party members to back Tinubu’s re-election. “There is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2027,” he said. He thanked APC members in Edo North for their support in his governorship election and the local government polls, and asked them to work harder next year.

Edo North’s senator and former governor, Adams Oshiomhole, also asked Nigerians to support the APC, saying it had the experience and candidates to continue the country’s development.

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

The Edo APC Chairman, Jarrett Tenebe, who received defectors into the party at the tour, urged members to run issue-based campaigns. “Let us embark on the campaign of ideas, not to fight,” he said.