Speaking during the march, Okpebholo, who attributed his achievements to Tinubu’s reforms which he claimed had translated to huge revenues coming to the state to carry out projects, said the electoral feat would be made possible with the practice of “one-man-one-vote.”
But while Governor Okpebholo has consistently vowed to deliver 2.5 million votes to the president, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, however on July 31, 2026, put the total number of registered voters in Edo at 2,760,190.
Before the September 21, 2024, governorship election in the state, the number of registered voters was 2,629,025 while 131,165 new voters were added following the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise which took place from August 2025 to July 2026.
Recall that during the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu scored 144,471 (24.6%) votes in Edo against Peter Obi of the Labour Party’s 331,163 (55.16%) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party’s 89,585 (14.92%). The total number of registered voters then was 2,501,081, while the valid votes were 581,266, out of the 603, 894 accredited voters.
Confident of delivering the promised votes, the governor said Edo residents were aware of what he described as the benefits of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms to the state.
Governor Okpebholo noted that the state’s monthly wage bill had risen above N7.8 billion, declaring that ongoing development projects and payment of salaries would have been difficult without increased revenues resulting from reforms by the Federal Government.
He said, “We are paying so much on salaries and at the same time, development is ongoing; projects are ongoing. Look at our flyover, if not for the reforms of the president, where will we get money for all this?
“You can see how many primary healthcare centres we have built since we came into office – over a hundred and eight across the state.”
On education, the governor said his administration had renovated more than 87 primary and secondary schools across the state and increased subvention to higher institutions from N41 million to more than N700 million.
“How could we have gotten this money, if not the man President Bola Tinubu that is courageous enough to have removed the fuel subsidy,” he said.
Okpebholo also cited Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State, saying the president had introduced reforms there that, in his view, improved the state’s administration.
He criticised unnamed political opponents who he said were responsible for past mismanagement of public resources and accused them of promising to restore fuel subsidy for their own benefit.
“Those people that believe they can steal Nigeria’s money are telling you they will restore subsidy, because it is from that subsidy they make their money from,” he said.
“People that sold our assets in this country without proper accountability, are they the ones that want to rule Nigeria? Those with supermarket, let them continue to do their commodity business.”
Okpebholo has repeatedly said he wants Edo to deliver 2.5 million votes for Tinubu in 2027. He made a similar appeal to newly elected chairmen and vice chairmen of the state’s 18 local government areas in September.
A youth representative at the march commended the governor for what he described as improvements in security across the state, saying this was helping to build investors’ confidence.
He said the march was organised to demonstrate the youths’ loyalty to Okpebholo and Tinubu and mobilise support for APC candidates in the 2027 elections.
The 2.5 million-vote target is a political pledge by Okpebholo. Previous reports have quoted opposition figures questioning the feasibility of the target, while the governor and his supporters have continued to defend it.
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