The Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, has warned Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, not to visit the state again without first informing him.

Governor Okpebholo gave this warning during a political event in Uromi, where a member of the House of Representatives, Marcus Onobun, left the PDP and joined the APC.

Marcus is the only PDP lawmaker in the House of Representatives and his defection to the ruling APC took place on Friday, July 18, 2025.

The Governor’s warning seems to come in response to Peter Obi’s recent visit to Edo State. During that visit, Obi donated N15 million to the St. Philomena Hospital School of Nursing in Benin City.

At the rally, a short video clip showed the governor saying Obi would be held responsible if anything happens to him during any future visit to Edo State without informing the state government.

“The man wey say he no get shishi, I am sending a direct message to him: there is a new sheriff in town. He cannot come to Edo without telling me because his security will never be guaranteed. Whatever happens to him when he is in Edo State, he will take it. I am serious about it,” Okpebholo declared to the cheering crowd,” he said. 

“He came the other day and donated N15 million. Somebody wey say he no get shishi — where he get N15 million to donate to people? By the time he left, there was crisis. Three people died in Benin. So, for that reason, tell Obi he should not come to Edo without telling me,” the Governor said.

While talking more about Onobun’s move to the APC, Governor Okpebholo said the party is now fully in charge of Edo State and promised that by the 2027 general elections, there would be no sign of the opposition left.

“We are not lobbying anyone to join APC; they are coming because they see the results of our governance. In 2027, 2.5 million votes from Edo are guaranteed for President Bola Tinubu,” he boasted.

“Last week, we finally buried the PDP in Edo State. I saw someone crying at Ring Road, talking about having 65%. That is what we call social media winning. When I said I would become governor, I meant it. Today, we are turning Edo into a construction site, and they can see it.”