A PROMISE KEPT: GOVERNOR MONDAY OKPEBHOLO AND THE RESTORATION OF JUSTICE, BALANCE, AND HISTORICAL FAIRNESS IN AKOKO-EDO
In the long and eventful chronicles of Edo State, history occasionally pauses to honour a leader whose tenure transcends routine governance and becomes a moral turning point. Such moments are rare, and such leaders even rarer. Today, Edo State is privileged to be led by one such man, His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Monday Okpebholo, a governor whose leadership radiates courage tempered by humility, authority guided by conscience, and power anchored in justice.
Your Excellency did not merely assume office; you arrived at a critical hour in Edo’s political journey, when long-standing imbalances demanded correction, and when silent injustices yearned for a listening heart. Through deliberate actions and thoughtful appointments, you have demonstrated that governance is not about conquest, but about healing, inclusion, and fairness. Across Edo State, your name is spoken with admiration because your leadership reflects character, empathy, and decisive action.
Nowhere has this restorative leadership resonated more deeply than in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, one of the oldest, largest, and most politically strategic LGAs in Edo State. Akoko-Edo is historically structured into two constituencies—North (Constituency 1) and South (Constituency 2). From time immemorial, elders, leaders, and stakeholders agreed that elective and appointive positions should rotate between these constituencies, so that no clan, ward, or ethnic group would feel excluded or reduced to spectators in their ancestral land.
Sadly, history departed from this noble principle.
For over sixteen uninterrupted years, the House of Representatives seat has remained exclusively in Akoko-Edo South (Constituency 2) under the continuous tenure of Hon. Peter Akpatason, while the same constituency repeatedly dominated the Local Government Chairmanship and a disproportionate share of state and federal appointments. This prolonged concentration of power created a painful sense of exclusion for Akoko-Edo North, whose patience, loyalty, and restraint were tested but never broken.
At a point in time, while the current House of Representatives mandate holder from Constituency 2 was still in office, Akoko-Edo South simultaneously held:
The House of Representatives seat,
The Local Government Council Chairmanship,
The Chief of Staff to the Governor,
The Chairman of SUBEB,
Two Commissioners,
Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters,
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor,
Permanent Secretary
—all originating from one constituency alone.
Even as of today, the imbalance persists. One prominent son of Akoko-Edo South is an Ambassadorial Nominee of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while another serves as Secretary to the Director-General of NIMASA, yet again, from the same constituency. These facts are not stated in bitterness, but in truth, for history must be honest before it can be just.
Against this backdrop, Your Excellency’s intervention has been both timely and commendable. Your appointments into key positions were not acts of political patronage, but bold statements of corrective justice. Akoko-Edo North (Constituency 1) finally began to breathe again through the appointments of:
Architect Emmanuel Fashanu as CEO, Edo Flood, Erosion & Watershed Management Agency, and
Hon. Kabiru Adjoto as Chairman, Edo State Local Government Service Commission.
These appointments restored visibility, dignity, and hope to a constituency that had waited patiently for recognition. At the same time, Akoko-Edo South (Constituency 2) was also fairly accommodated through appointments such as:
Otunba Bankole Balogun, Chairman, Edo State Internal Revenue Board,
Hon. Bisi Idaomi – Commissioner for Women Affairs,
Barr. Roland Otaru – Commissioner for Justice,
Dr. Bamidele Agbadua – Governing Board Member, College of Education, Igueben,
Bar. Godson Hayioye – Commissioner, Edo State Civil Service Commission.
These balanced decisions have become the unmistakable signature of Your Excellency’s leadership—proof that unity is strongest when inclusion is intentional.
However, Your Excellency, one final chapter in the pursuit of equity remains unwritten the issue of elective balance.
Okpameri Nation, the historic backbone of Akoko-Edo North, controls four major wards and accounts for over 50–60% of the total voting strength of the LGA. It is the largest and most populous ethnic group in Akoko-Edo, united by language, culture, and purpose. It is also on record that the bulk of the votes that delivered victory to Your Excellency in the last governorship election came from Constituency 1, the Okpameri-speaking axis of Akoko-Edo.
With humility and sincerity, we appeal that the House of Representatives ticket be zoned back to Akoko-Edo North (Constituency 1) and entrusted to any qualified son of Okpameri Nation. This appeal is not born out of rivalry, nor is it a contest of dominance. Rather, it is a plea for healing, balance, and historical closure a request to finally correct a 16-year imbalance that has lingered far too long.
More importantly, as Edo State aligns with the national objective of delivering no fewer than 3.5 million votes for the re-election of our dear President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, zoning this position to Constituency 1 will strengthen unity, energise grassroots mobilisation, and consolidate trust in Akoko-Edo. Justice, when seen, multiplies loyalty.
Let history therefore record these days with golden ink: that when Senator Monday Okpebholo came, the mountains of Akoko-Edo, long silent, found their voice in justice. Let generations unborn say that Your Excellency did not merely govern Edo State; you corrected Edo State.
As we approach the New Year, we sincerely pray that the Almighty God continues to grant you wisdom beyond politics, strength beyond challenges, and grace beyond expectations. May your administration remain the bridge between yesterday’s wounds and tomorrow’s unity, and may your legacy be etched not just in projects, but in fairness, balance, and enduring peace.
Merry Christmas in advance and a prosperous, impactful New Year to Your Excellency.
May Edo State flourish under your watch, and may history forever honour your name.
