– as Okpebholo, Oshiomhole, Tenebe, Urhoghide speak ahead campaigns
The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that the battle for the 2027 general elections will be taken to the polling units, with Governor Monday Okpebholo directing the party’s campaign machinery to reach every ward and community in the state.
Okpebholo spoke on Wednesday at the inauguration of the Edo APC Campaign Council for the 2027 general elections, where party leaders outlined a grassroots mobilisation strategy aimed at taking the campaign beyond political leaders and existing party members.
The governor charged members of the council to work as a team and take the APC message directly to the people at the grassroots.
He said the campaign must reach every ward and polling unit and should involve youths, women, traders, traditional institutions and other stakeholders across the state.
Okpebholo also urged members to conduct peaceful campaigns and avoid statements or actions capable of creating division within the party or the state.
According to him, members of the council have a responsibility to explain the programmes and achievements of the APC-led administration to residents while also listening to their concerns.
He said effective grassroots mobilisation would be critical to the party’s performance in the elections.
Former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, who is a co-chairman of the campaign structure, urged members not to restrict their mobilisation to existing APC supporters.
Oshiomhole said the campaign must reach Edo residents outside the party and seek to persuade them to support its candidates.
He commended Okpebholo’s visits to local government areas, saying they underscored the importance of taking political engagement directly to the people.
“Those who are not members of the party are Nigerians and Edo people. Our task is to motivate them and bring them into our fold,” Oshiomhole said.
Edo APC Chairman and co-chairman of the campaign structure, Jarrett Tenebe, said experienced party members had been carefully selected into the campaign council to prosecute the elections and work for the success of the party’s candidates.
Tenebe said the composition of the council reflected the party’s determination to establish an effective campaign organisation capable of operating across the state.
He urged members to work collectively and ensure that campaign activities penetrated the wards and polling units.
The party chairman assured the council that the APC would provide the necessary support to enable its members to discharge their responsibilities effectively.
Reports announcing the campaign structure earlier this month said it was designed to strengthen coordination, grassroots mobilisation and electoral engagement across Edo State.
Director-General of the Campaign Council and former Senator representing Edo South, Pharm. Matthew Urhoghide, said the campaign must be taken to the “nooks and crannies” of the state.
Urhoghide said particular attention should be paid to the polling units, describing them as the level where the electoral contest would ultimately be decided.
He urged council members to engage residents who were not APC members and explain the party’s programmes and reasons for seeking their support.
According to him, every member of the council must recognise the importance of grassroots engagement and ensure that the party’s campaign is visible at the community and polling-unit levels.
Former Deputy Governor Pius Odubu also urged members to regard their appointments as a call to duty rather than merely political recognition.
Odubu said members should extend their activities beyond their immediate political supporters and engage residents across the state.
Leaders at Wednesday’s inauguration included Deputy Governor Dennis Idahosa; Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Yekini Idiaye; former Deputy Governor Lucky Imasuen; Senator Neda Imasuen; Joe Ikpea; Gen. Cecil Esekhaigbe; Edo APC Deputy Chairman Sylvester Aigboboh; and the party’s state secretary, Lawrence Okah, among others.
The inauguration formally sets the stage for the party’s statewide mobilisation, with its leaders placing wards, communities and polling units at the centre of the campaign strategy.
