By DADA AYOKHAI
Media executives have commended Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on his achievements in two years in office.
The tour of projects in Edo South Senatorial District was organised as part of activities to mark the governor’s second anniversary in office, which comes up on Thursday, November 12, 2026.
It was designed to give editors and other stakeholders a first-hand assessment of the administration’s performance in its first two years, by taking them round completed and ongoing projects across Benin City and its environs.
The governor got the commendation when he took the editors and other stakeholders round some of his administration’s major infrastructure projects in Edo South Senatorial District, three days before the anniversary.
Speaking for the editors, Deji Bademosi commended the governor over the number and scale of the projects, and described the tour as an eye-opener.
He said he was surprised that so much had been done in two years, adding that he had asked the governor whether he had planned it all before taking office.
”We’ve gone round quite a number of projects. With what I’m seeing, I’m surprised the Governor is able to do all of these within a period of two years. At some point, I had to ask him if he had actually planned this before he came into office,” Bademosi said.
He noted that the tour had so far focused mainly on roads, and said the record could look even stronger once education and healthcare were taken into account. Seeing the projects physically, he said, gave a clearer picture than reports and media publications could.
”This is an opener for me because sometimes it’s always good to see things for yourself,” he said. “There is no doubt at all that the people of Edo State have got a good Governor.”
Looking ahead, Bademosi said the pace recorded in the first half of the governor’s four-year term raised expectations for the remaining two years.
The tour covered road construction, urban infrastructure and erosion control projects in and around Benin City, and gave the media executives a chance to see completed and ongoing works for themselves.
Locations visited included Catholic Charismatic Road, off Upper Ekenwan Road, Ugbighoko; the erosion control project at Ekenwan Army Barracks; Adesuwa Flyover on Sapele Road; the Sapele Road reconstruction; Ogheghe Road; Old Sapele Road; Temboga Road; Utteh Palace Road; Ikpoba Hill Flyover at Ramat Park; Obaseki Road and its erosion control works; and Okpagha.
At the Ekenwan Army Barracks site, the governor said the project was the first major infrastructure work his administration started and finished, within its first few months in office.
He explained that the area had no usable road because of severe flooding. His government built a pond to collect and channel the water, which was part of the drainage and erosion control solution.
”Actually, when we started, there was no road here because of the water here, so we had to create this pond so that all the collections will be coming in here. This was actually the first major project I started and completed within three to four months,” he said.
