The Edo State Government has launched a scathing attack on the immediate past governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, accusing him of attempting to destabilize the state by mobilizing international hostility against the current administration and fanning global embers of hate.
In an statement written by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo, Mr. Fred Itua, the government described Obaseki’s recent activities and comments abroad as a calculated threat to national security rather than the harmless expressions of a former officeholder.
The allegations follow a viral video of the former governor speaking in Birmingham, where he reportedly disparaged Governor Okpebholo and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Reacting to the footage, the state government claimed that Obaseki’s rhetoric revealed a man struggling to accept that power had shifted, accusing him of resorting to “reckless and incendiary” language to stir resentment.
Itua alleged that Obaseki’s current international tour, disguised as “meet and greet” sessions, is a strategic effort to secure foreign sympathy, funding, and legitimacy for a domestic political battle he has already lost.
The statement raised concerns that the former governor is actively trying to recruit external actors to undermine the peace currently enjoyed in Edo State, questioning why a former administrator would openly brag about mobilizing the diaspora against the leadership of his own state.
The government further accused Obaseki of resorting to dangerous ethnic sentiments, citing his alleged comments that a governor from Irrua cannot dictate to the people of Benin.
Itua described this as an exposure of the tribal undertones that characterized Obaseki’s eight years in office, during which he allegedly exploited ethnic divisions to isolate political opponents.
Drawing attention to the former governor’s track record, the statement painted a picture of an administration marked by intolerance and vindictiveness. It cited the contentious impeachment of former Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu and the demolition of roughly one hundred homes in Oke-Oroma despite a subsisting court order as evidence of a “violent streak” that simmered beneath the surface of the previous administration.
The statement also linked the spike in kidnapping and armed robbery experienced in the early days of the Okpebholo administration to what Itua termed the “desperate convulsions of an ecosystem” built and empowered by the former governor.
He credited Governor Okpebholo with reining in this chaos through calm leadership, contrasting it with Obaseki’s alleged history of weaponizing state power and creating networks of political enforcers.
Itua dismissed Obaseki’s claims that he was being threatened, countering that the former governor is merely afraid of accountability.
The CPS insisted that Okpebholo has focused on governance, infrastructure, and social welfare, moving miles ahead of the stagnation left behind by his predecessor.
Concluding with a call to action, the Edo State Government urged security agencies to treat Obaseki’s latest utterances with seriousness.
Itua demanded a thorough probe into the intent behind the former governor’s global mobilization efforts and called for the monitoring of his political network to prevent a slide back into instability, warning that the “red flags” raised by Obaseki’s conduct must not be ignored.
