The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, raised alarm over what it described as an ongoing, coordinated and increasingly reckless campaign of calumny, provocation, distortion and hostility being orchestrated by the Edo State Government under Governor Monday Okpebholo and his cohort of overbearing All Progressives Congress (APC) godfathers.
In a statement signed and issued by the party’s publicity secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, the PDP said the campaign has, for months, deliberately sought to bait, distract and tarnish former Governor Godwin Obaseki, a leader the party praised for transparency, prudence, institutional reform and clarity of purpose.
“This lingering resentment stems from Obaseki’s principled refusal to surrender Edo’s resources to private pockets, a tradition entrenched under their former leader, Adams Oshiomhole, but courageously halted by Obaseki,” the party said.
The PDP accused the Okpebholo administration of spending its early months dismantling, undermining or frustrating the legacy projects and institutional gains achieved during the Obaseki administration.
The opposition listed a series of alleged acts of sabotage and reversals it said amount to “a political vendetta disguised as governance.”
Below are the items the PDP singled out and the party’s allegations in full detail.
1. Attacks on Saro Farms in Orhionmwon and Ovia
The PDP said the “hostility, disruptions and reported destruction of Saro Farms, one of the largest agricultural investments attracted under Obaseki, constitute a devastating blow to investor confidence.”
The party alleged the pattern of intimidation suggests coordinated action “believed to be sponsored by elements in the Edo State Government and their APC backers.” The PDP called these acts “a direct assault on the agricultural revolution Obaseki championed.”
2. Suspension and Discrediting of the Benin Enterprise Park
The statement condemned what it described as the “mindless suspension and public disparagement” of the Benin Enterprise Park, a landmark industrialisation project “conceptualised and advanced under Obaseki.”
The PDP attributed the suspension to the APC’s inability to tolerate any developmental legacy tied to him.
3. Hostility to the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA)
Rather than sustaining Edo’s growing cultural profile, the PDP said the government “encouraged toxic narratives and reckless actions culminating in the disgraceful security collapse that allowed hoodlums to invade a facility hosting foreign diplomats.”
The party called this incident “a calculated attempt to stain Obaseki’s globally celebrated cultural reforms.”
4. Reversal of EdoGIS and Digital Land Reforms
The PDP accused the Okpebholo administration of rolling back EdoGIS and digital land reforms that had “sanitised Edo’s opaque land administration.”
According to the party, the reversal is returning land administration to “an era of racketeering, political land seizures and institutional opacity.”
5. Reversal of Civil Service Reforms
The opposition said the “vibrant, merit-driven and digitalised civil service Obaseki built is being dragged back to the days of drudgery, corruption, bottlenecks and lethargy.”
The PDP alleged promotions, assessments and workflows have reverted to patronage and paper-based inefficiency.
6. Attempted Destruction of Educational Gains Under EdoBEST
PDP warned that EdoBEST, the basic education reform model that the statement said lifted Edo pupils from learning poverty to national and international acclaim, is being sabotaged by political interference, anti-merit appointments, and a return to outdated teaching practices.
7. Attacks on the Agricultural Investment Pipeline
From what the party described as the Presco land scandal to the intimidation of investors across Edo State, the PDP alleged that the APC-led government is “systematically attacking the progress that made Edo Nigeria’s most promising agro-industrial hub.”
“These are not acts of governance. They are acts of vendetta, bitterness and political vandalism,” the opposition party stressed.
Obaseki Will Not Be Dragged Into ‘Petty Politics’ – PDP Says
Despite the mounting provocations, the party said former Governor Obaseki “has maintained dignity and restraint. He has refused to descend into insults and mudslinging perfected by Okpebholo and his handlers.”
The PDP noted that Obaseki has chosen instead to engage Edo indigenes in the diaspora, “giving honest accounts of stewardship, without once referencing the Okpebholo administration, whose operations are remote-controlled by bitter godfathers outside Osadebe Avenue.”
“The APC is angry because Obaseki still commands global respect. They are enraged because he speaks to Edo people across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa about achievements they cannot dispute. Their attacks only expose their insecurity,” the statement added.
‘A Government Run By Godfathers’
The PDP accused the Okpebholo administration of being controlled by the same figures who, in earlier APC administrations, “demanded unfettered access to Edo’s treasury.”
The party alleged that every major decision is supervised by the same figures and that the underlying grievance is unchanged: “Obaseki refused to share Edo’s revenues and insisted that public funds serve the people, not predatory political interests.”
The statement went on to catalogue, in detail, what the PDP described as Obaseki’s achievements across multiple sectors, presenting them as the record the party says the APC is trying to erase.
Infrastructure:
- Over 500 roads constructed or rehabilitated.
- Opening of new corridors across Benin City, Esan, Owan and rural communities.
- Comprehensive renewal of public buildings and government facilities.
- Completion and modernisation of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium and associated sports infrastructure.
Education
- Pioneering EdoBEST revolution, now studied globally.
- Large-scale teacher retraining and digitalisation.
- Rehabilitation of hundreds of schools across all LGAs.
Civil Service and Governance
- Nigeria’s most modernised state civil service.
- Digital workflow, e-governance, and merit-based promotions.
- Judicial autonomy, new court complexes and strengthened justice institutions.
Agriculture and Industry
- Attraction of major investors including Saro Farms, Dufil, Elephant Group and numerous agro-industrial investors.
- Development of the Benin Enterprise Park.
- Internationally recognised Edo Oil Palm Programme (EPP).
Health and Social Welfare
- Upgrade and expansion of Stella Obasanjo Hospital.
- Strengthened primary healthcare centres across the state.
- Expansion of Edo Health Insurance Scheme.
- Social welfare support for vulnerable households.
Energy and Digital Economy
- Partnership with Ossiomo Power, delivering stable electricity to government buildings, hospitals, courts and street lighting.
- Digital economy initiatives that positioned Edo as a rising tech hub.
- Establishment of technology training programmes for youth.
Culture and Tourism
- The groundbreaking MOWAA development.
- Boost to film, arts and the creative economy.
- International cultural partnerships that placed Edo on the world map.
Finance and Economy
- Transparent budgeting and anti-corruption systems.
- Zero tolerance for reckless borrowing.
- Digitalisation of IGR collection, closing loopholes and raising Edo’s revenues to historic highs.
The PDP warned: “These are the legacies the APC is desperately trying to destroy.”
PDP Calls on President Tinubu To Intervene
As the PDP described the provocation as escalating, the party called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restrain members of his party in Edo.
“The conduct of Monday Okpebholo and his handlers is overheating the polity and may precipitate a seismic conflagration if not immediately curtailed,” the PDP warned.
The party accused the Okpebholo administration of politics driven by bitterness, not service; vendetta, not vision.
Maintaining its stand, the party declared: “The PDP stands solidly, unequivocally and unapologetically with Mr Godwin Obaseki. We will not allow his legacy to be undermined by those who contributed nothing to Edo’s progress. We stand with him because he governed with courage, protected Edo’s treasury, uplifted Edo’s people and resisted the predatory demands of political godfathers. History will vindicate him. Edo people already have.”
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