By Ehichioya Ezomon
During campaigns, Nigerian politicians (mostly presidential and governorship candidates) unfold their Manifestos or Road Maps they pledge to implement if elected at the poll. But on assumption of office, many never revert to those documents, but execute policies and programmes based on a rule-of-the-thumb for populism. Hence uncompleted and abandoned projects litter the landscape.
Is Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo different from other politicians? Not really, as long as he bears the tag of “politician,” many of whom’ve turned politics into a “dirty game” of much talk, less action to improve the welfare and well-being of the people they’re elected to serve and provide for their basic needs!
So far, Okpebholo’s chosen to focus on rapid development anchored on his SHINE (Security, Health, Infrastructure, Natural Resources/Agriculture, and Education) Agenda – his administration’s core policy framework aimed to “improve lives through targeted, people-centered governance, with the budget prioritising capital projects, to drive economic growth and ensure safety” across the state.
The former Senator (APC, Edo Central) is barely one year in the saddle, yet he’s done more than most governors within the first 12 months of their first term in office. Surely, there’s room for improvement, especially in the distribution of amenities and projects, so that some segments of the state won’t feel neglected or “marginalised,” such as is lately voiced by aggrieved communities.
This leads to the proposal by the governor to float an airline for the state. The plan has prompted intense debate, both for and against a gargantuan project that requires a princely outlay of scarce resources amid areas needing urgent attention and intervention.
As many Edolites appeal to the governor to rethink the airline project, the Coalition of Registered Political Parties (CRPP) has vowed to file a legal action against Okpebholo, on the grounds of “wasteful spending of Edo monies that are not beneficial to the people of Edo State.”
Acting as a busy body and a meddlesome interloper, the CRPP’s assumed the power and authority it lacks. Through its regional president, Dr. Samson Isibor, the coalition declared in a statement on January 27, 2026, in Benin City, Edo capital city, that: “We are ready to take him (Okpebholo) to court, if he goes ahead to implement the so-called Edo Airline.”
It’s apt to ask what right has the CRPP to decide or determine the policies, programmes and actions Okpebholo should implement and execute in the overall interests of Edo people, whose mandate he holds in trust from November 2024 to November 2028 in the first instance?
Is the CRPP a member of the Okpebholo cabinet that works on the government’s policy framework? Is it a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State? Being part of the APC-led government or the party won’t confer on the coalition the prerogative to dictate to Okpebholo what to do or how to run his government!
Besides questioning the governor’s executive powers to decide what’s necessary and relevant to Edo State, the CRPP’s interference is an overreach and a misuse of its right; an attempt to wield the power and authority it doesn’t have and possess; and an exercise primed for the optics, and doomed to fail in the law courts!
For clarity, the CRPP, a coalition or an alliance of legally-recognised, registered political parties in Nigeria, “acts as a pressure group formed by registered parties in various states, to take unified stances on elections and political matters,” AI Overview notes.
As a body unknown to law – not registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a political party, and not a registered entity with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) that can sue and be sued – the CRPP is a voluntary organisation for registered parties with a free entry and a free exit!
It’s, thus, not in the remit of the CRPP to dabble in the governance of Edo State by blackmail and threats to sue Okpebholo should he refuse to carry out the coalition’s “order” to halt the airline. If it really wants the governor to have a change of mind, its intervention should be to suggest, advise or appeal to him to commit the funds to other areas.
Accordingly, the CRPP can channel the advice via the Edo chapter of the APC, imploring the governor to redirect the funds to execute projects the “self-oversighter” coalition listed in its threatening statement of grammatical blunders, as follows:
“The CRPP is not happy with the Edo State Governor, Monday Okpeholo (sic) priotising some self-adulation projects that should not be immediate priority of any government that is not (sic) people-oriented. Any projects that have no bearing for (on) the survival of the people of Edo State, (sic) should not be executed.
“The news we heard that Governor Okpeholo is contemplating to establish (sic) Air carrier (sic) otherwise called Airline (sic) is uncalled for. There are hundreds of state roads (sic) including federal roads (sic) begging for rehabilitations (sic), especially in the rural areas where many of their roads have being (been) cut off, (and) many villages have no roads to bring their palm (farm) produce to the urban areas for sale.
“Insecurity in the state is increasing daily unabated, thousands of our youths are unemployed thereby adding to the insecurity in the state, yet we have a governor in the state, who is not bothered about the plight and poor conditions of life in the state.
“There is no any agenda for the poor masses (“people living in poverty,” “low-income households,” or “economically-disadvantaged individuals”) in Edo State, (sic) since (sic) Okpeholo assume (assumed) office, everybody is lamenting the critical situation in Edo State, (sic) the (sic) Governor should tell us what the masses have benefited since he assume (assumed) office.”
In closing, as Alert News reported on January 27, 2026, the CRPP asked Governor Okpebholo to answer the following questions: “How much does it cost to acquire one airline (sic) EG (sic) Boeing 707? What happened to about N100b loan approval by the rubber stamp (sic) (Edo State) House of Assembly?
“Is it productive to establish an airlines (sic) that will cost the state over N5 trillion Naira? Can’t we use this money to revitalize all the moribund government companies that can employ more than fifty thousand youths (50,000) in those establishments such as (the) Uromi Cassavita (Factory)?
“Others are: Ehor Fruit Juice Factory; Ewu Flower (Flour) Mill; Ewohimi Cassava Factory; Fertilizer Company at Auchi; Bendel Brewery and many others, instead of wasting much money to acquire Arlines (sic)? Airlines are beneficial only to the rich and politicians. How many citizens of Edo State can afford to fly? We know that air transport fair (fare) is beyond the reach of any average Edo citizen.
“Many State Governments prioritise roads constructions (sic) for good motor (sic) roads (sic) they (sic) purchase more than 100 busses (buses) for their citizens to convey them to and fro (sic) from their working places (workplaces) free of charge. Why then is Edo State (sic) own is (sic) different?”
Devoid of its threats to file a writ against the governor, the likes of the CRPP are welcome to try to redirect Okpebholo’s focus on the pressing needs of majority of Edolites, as the coalition argues that an airline isn’t such a priority.
A quick reminder, though! There’re troubling issues, particularly in the main opposition parties, that should engage the timely and sustained attention of the CRPP ahead of the 2027 General Election, for which the INEC’s released a year-long timetable of activities culminating in the balloting.
If the coalition isn’t pushing an agenda by busying and meddling in the core governance of Edo State – a label that doesn’t bode well for the image it projects in the public – the CRPP’s hands should be on deck, to ensure that political parties observe internal democracy, and conduct free, fair and credible primaries for the 2027 poll.
The more the CRPP blackmail, harass and intimidate Okpebholo, the more he’s likely to be distracted from focusing on his promise to deliver the “dividend of democracy” to the people of Edo State. It’s time the coalition left governance for those elected to do their jobs and retreated from its constant rhetoric against the governor and his administration!
• Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria. Can be reached on X, Threads, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp @EhichioyaEzomon. Tel: 08033078357.
