Despite widespread criticisms over his allegedly unguarded, and threatening statement, Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, said he has no regret asking Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to notify him before visiting the state.
He reacted to the criticisms on Tuesday in Benin at the inauguration of the new Edo Line, a transport company owned by the state government.
The governor clarified that the directive to Obi was a piece of advice and should not be misinterpreted or taken out of context as a threat.
According to him, his own failure to heed such advice from the Commissioner of Police in 2024 led to the death of his police orderly.
His words, “Because of the rain, I won’t say much. Even when I said just one word, people were already crying.
“What I said was a simple advice. I told him not to visit Edo without informing me. As chief security officer, it’s a basic protocol.
“If asking him to notify me is considered a crime, so be it. I have no regrets.
“Let me not dwell on irrelevant matters. This is not important. To the people of Edo, our message and intention have already been made clear.
“I don’t understand their pain. Is it because I said they don’t have ‘shishi’? Didn’t they say they don’t have ‘shishi’?”.
Okpebholo recalled being similarly advised by the commissioner of police in 2024, when he arrived Benin Airport, under former governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration.
He said, “The commissioner saw me and asked me to remain at the airport. I ignored him. At the gate, my police orderly was shot dead”.
