By: Titus Oise, Benin.
The executive governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, is set to intensify grassroots mobilisation for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu across Edo State, with the campaign expected to move through wards and polling units as the All Progressives Congress (APC) pursues its 2.5 million-vote target for the 2027 presidential election.
Director of Media of the Edo State Campaign Council and Chieftain of the ruling APC, Mr John Mayaki, disclosed this while responding to criticisms by Rev. Olu Martins, a chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), who questioned the feasibility of the target and criticised the governor for attaching a specific figure to the votes he intends to mobilise for the President.
Okpebholo has repeatedly maintained the 2.5 million target. In May, he described it as achievable, while in June he linked the projection to projects being undertaken by his administration. On September 4, he also charged the newly inaugurated chairmen of the 18 local government areas to work towards the target.
Mayaki said the next phase would involve a multi-layered mobilisation structure extending from the state and local government levels to wards and polling units.
“There are arrangements for unit-by-unit and ward-by-ward mobilisation. There are several layers of organisation on the ground.We will organise, mobilise and work at a scale proportionate to that ambition.
Mayaki faulted the claim that Okpebholo was the only governor or political leader to announce a specific numerical target for Tinubu.
He said numerical targets had been announced by political leaders and APC organisations in other states, arguing that such figures should be understood as mobilisation objectives rather than predictions of election results.
“So, let us debate whether 2.5 million is ambitious; let us debate the strategy required to pursue it. But let us not build an argument on the claim that no other governor or political organisation has set a numerical target,” he said.
“These are political mobilisation targets and not election forecasts.The 2.5 million is not a prediction. It is an aspiration that defines the level of effort required.
Mayaki said an ambitious target necessarily required the party to increase the scale of its organisation, membership mobilisation, voter registration, PVC collection and turnout efforts.
He added that the size of the target should not, by itself, be treated as evidence that it was improper to pursue it.
“What is wrong with being ambitious? Assuming, without conceding, that the governor is over-ambitious, is ambition now an offence?
“There is nothing wrong with setting a high standard or target for oneself. What matters is the degree of mobilisation, the number of registered voters and ultimately the number who turn out to vote.”
Mayaki also said the debate should take account of changes in Edo’s voter register.
“INEC’s register for the 2023 general election contained 2,501,081 voters in Edo. Following continuous voter registration and transfers, the figure rose by 4.9 per cent to 2,629,025 ahead of the September 2024 governorship election. The final figure for the 2027 general election will depend on subsequent registration, transfers and other changes approved by INEC.
Mayaki also cited the July local government election as an indication of the scale of mobilisation the APC believes it can undertake.”The party recorded 2,158,600 votes in the council poll and subsequently reiterated its 2.5 million target for Tinubu.
“The governor has set a political mark. He is reaching forward and pressing towards it, and he will not allow the size of the target to discourage the scale of his effort,” he said.
“There is no opposition in Edo State in the form people see it.Look at the political configuration today. The people who previously constituted Obaseki’s political blocs are now spread across different parties. 70% have moved to the APC, some remain with opposition platforms, while others have withdrawn from active politics.
“You cannot simply take yesterday’s electoral arithmetic and transplant it into 2027 without accounting for those changes.”
Responding to Martins’ concerns about roads, fuel prices, transportation costs and economic hardship, Mayaki said such issues were legitimate subjects for public debate but argued that many of Edo’s infrastructure problems predated the present administration.
“The roads did not suddenly collapse on the day Governor Okpebholo assumed office,” he said.
“Many of these problems were inherited. What should be examined is what the governor inherited, what he has done, what he is doing and what remains to be done.
“The people themselves can see the projects and make their own assessment.”
On transportation costs, Mayaki said measures being developed by the state government to cushion the impact should ultimately be assessed by their effect on residents.
He urged critics to wait for the APC’s grassroots strategy to unfold rather than dismiss the 2.5 million target solely because of its size.
“Don’t forget: 2.5 million is not a prediction. It is an aspiration that defines the level of effort required.We will organise, mobilise and work at a scale proportionate to that ambition. Ultimately, the voters will decide,”Mayaki posited.
