Edo APC Chairman Tenebe Charges Supporters to Campaign Responsibly, Avoid Confrontation at Polling Units

By Correspondent

The Edo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Emperor Jarrett Tenebe, has called on politicians and party supporters to make the 2027 election campaign a contest of ideas, policies and achievements rather than insults and personal attacks.

Tenebe spoke as the APC intensifies mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the party targeting 2.5 million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Edo State. The target has previously been publicly stated by the Edo APC leadership.

Quoting Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, Tenebe said there was a time for every activity, stressing that the period for campaigning was approaching and should be conducted responsibly.

“Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 says that there is time for everything. There’s time for campaign, and there’s time for election,” he said.

According to him, Governor Monday Okpebholo’s ongoing consultations across the state were part of efforts to engage the people, identify areas requiring attention and make necessary corrections before the campaign fully gathers momentum.

“And we are going into campaign. That is the reason the governor, Monday Okpebholo, said he wants to go round to feel your pulse, to know where we can rectify them,” Tenebe said.

He urged APC members to focus their campaign messages on the performance of the Okpebholo administration in Edo State and the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration at the federal level.

“The campaign we are going into, let it be campaign of ideas and not with insults. We should profile what the governor is doing in the state and what the president is doing in Nigeria. Those are what we should use to campaign to the people,” he said.

Tenebe also stressed the importance of voters exercising their franchise freely, describing the 2027 election as a contest in which the individual vote would be decisive.

“Because the election that is coming is going to be ‘One Man, One Vote’,” he said.

He further urged supporters to remain peaceful and disciplined at polling units, using a biblical reference to counsel against retaliation or confrontation during the election.

“And if you are going to the polling unit to vote, hold your Bible and if anybody slaps you here,” he said, pointing to his right cheek, “turn the other side.”

Tenebe concluded by reiterating the APC’s target of securing 2.5 million votes for President Tinubu in Edo State in the 2027 presidential election.

The APC’s 2.5-million-vote target follows the party’s claim of securing 2,158,600 votes in the July 2026 Edo State local government elections, a result Tenebe has cited as evidence of the party’s mobilisation capacity.

His latest call for issue-based campaigning comes amid heightened political activity in Edo ahead of the 2027 elections and following controversy over separate recent remarks attributed to him concerning the party’s 2.5-million-vote target.