Former Edo State governor and Senator representing Edo North, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, says Governor Monday Okpebholo inherited a state that was “abandoned for eight years,” but has already begun rebuilding and refocusing governance on the people within just one year in office.
Speaking with journalists in Benin City on Sunday, Oshiomhole dismissed the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) criticism of Okpebholo’s one-year performance, insisting that the administration has shown humility, discipline and clear results.
He described the PDP as “a dead party speaking from the grave,” adding that many of the projects initiated under former governor Godwin Obaseki amounted to “groundbreakings without results,” including the Gele-Gele Port project and several proposed housing estates.
According to him, the EdoBEST programme—introduced to digitize teaching and unify lesson notes for teachers—was a “scam,” as most public schools lacked electricity and internet facilities needed to make the tablets functional.
Oshiomhole highlighted Okpebholo’s achievements, including the revival of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, through an increase in monthly subvention to ₦500 million, and the restoration of subvention to Edo University, Iyamho, raised from zero to ₦250 million monthly.
As a federal lawmaker, Oshiomhole also reaffirmed his commitment to national development, noting that senators must legislate for all Nigerians, not just their districts.
He recalled that his first motion in the Senate focused on fixing the Benin–Auchi–Okene road, a critical federal highway that had deteriorated to the point where motorists sometimes slept on the road due to gridlock.
He said he worked alongside then-Senator Monday Okpebholo—now governor—to mount pressure on President Bola Tinubu for innovative funding to complete the project.
Oshiomhole said Governor Okpebholo’s leadership style and readiness to “hire and fire when necessary” have restored discipline in government, adding that the governor prefers to let his achievements speak for him—“because action speaks louder than voice.”
