Governor Okpebholo Attributes Peter Obi 2023 Edo Victory to Obaseki Administration Failures

Governor Monday Okpebholo claims Peter Obi won Edo in 2023 due to PDP failures, vowing to deliver the state for President Tinubu in 2027.

By: AXL Media

Published: May 1, 2026, 6:03 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Peoples Gazette

Election Post Mortem Links Presidential Results to State Governance

The political landscape in Edo State remains a point of intense debate as Governor Monday Okpebholo offers a fresh perspective on the 2023 presidential election outcomes. Speaking in a recent interview with Channels TV, the governor asserted that the victory of Labor Party candidate Peter Obi in the state was a direct consequence of a leadership vacuum left by former Governor Godwin Obaseki. According to Mr. Okpebholo, the electorate used the presidential ballot to express dissatisfaction with a state government that he claims was not working for the people.

Statistical Breakdown of the 2023 Presidential Contest in Edo

Historical data from the last general election highlights a significant margin between the top contenders within the state borders. Official records indicate that Mr. Obi secured 331,163 votes, comfortably edging out the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Tinubu, who garnered 144,471 votes. Despite these figures, Governor Okpebholo maintains that the results were an anomaly fueled by local grievances rather than a shift in long term partisan loyalty. The governor suggested that the Labor Party leader lacked the inherent popularity or organizational capacity to replicate such numbers under different administrative circumstances.

Questioning Regional Influence and Political Capacity

The governor further questioned the broader electoral strength of the former Anambra State governor, specifically pointing to performance metrics in Mr. Obi's own home region. According to Mr. Okpebholo, there is little reason to fear the opposition when the current APC administration is actively aligning its policies with the direct needs of the Edo populace. He challenged the notion of Mr. Obi’s political dominance by asking if the former candidate could even deliver his own state, implying that the 2023 Edo results were a localized reaction to PDP failures rather than a testament to the Labor Party’s national reach.