By Blessing Bello, Reporting
TENSIONS are rising in Etsako East Local Government Area as All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders have called on Governor Monday Okpebolo to immediately halt what they describe as a “macabre dance” and correct the political imbalance surrounding the State House of Assembly seat.
In a strongly worded protest letter, the group accused the governor of allowing the seat to be treated as an inheritance for one individual and one zone—Agenebode—for nearly two decades.
The stakeholders are demanding that the seat be zoned to the Ibie Zone, arguing that Agenebode has already held the position for 20 years, with the same individual now seeking a fourth term.
“Our leader and brother, Hon. Peter Aliu, did two tenures of eight years in total. Hon. Kingsley Ugabi has done three tenures of 12 years, making 20 years in total for Weppa/Uwanno zone. The same incumbent member is still seeking to return for a fourth term to make Agenebode zone alone produce the House of Assembly member for 24 years,” the group said.
“Are the other zones slaves? Do they come to serve Agenebode?”
The stakeholders warned that the State House of Assembly seat is not an individual inheritance nor an exclusive reserve for Agenebode. They pointed out that Okpella already has an elected representative, while Agenebode currently holds both the local government chairmanship and the assembly seat.
“What other state position is available for Ibie Zone?” they asked.
The letter, signed by APC stalwart and member of the Security Committee and Venue Sub-Committee at the just-concluded APC National Convention, Hon. Benjamin Atu, recalled a period when Agenebode held multiple key positions simultaneously.
“When Clement Agba was a minister from Agenebode, Senator Francis Alimikhena was Edo North Senator also from Agenebode. Okpella was the then council chairman, and Agenebode held the House of Assembly seat. Ibie Zone has been the most deprived zone in Etsako East since the inception of democracy,” Atu stated.
He urged the governor to act swiftly, warning that leadership is tested not in moments of comfort but in moments that demand courage.
“Power, no matter how absolute, loses its legitimacy the moment it abandons fairness. Behind every crisis is injustice. The governor must act now and show us all that he is the father of fairness and social justice. The buck stops at his table,” Atu said.
He reminded Governor Okpebolo that he himself is a beneficiary of political rotation, and that no zone should hold on to power beyond two tenures.
“Agenebode has occupied the State House of Assembly seat since 2015. Our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), will not be able to survive the suffocating voting environment in the forthcoming elections if Agenebode is allowed to continue for a fourth term,” Atu warned.
“The voters are determined to use their vote to correct the political miscarriage and politics of deprivation.”
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