The Edo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Emperor Jarrett Tenebe, has debunked rumours making the rounds that he is currently in a rift with the senator representing Edo North, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, over his ambition to contest for the party chairman position ahead of the state congress.

Tenebe said he only had a disagreement with ex-Governor Oshiomhole during the primary election that produced Senator Monday Okpebholo as the APC candidate for the 2024 governorship election, maintaining that whatever differences existed then were resolved in the interest of the party.

Tenebe, who made the statement during a chat with select journalists in Benin City, Edo State, said he would emerge as the substantive party chairman, adding that, “I do not think the party will change a winning team.”

He emphasised that the leader of the party in Edo State is Governor Monday Okpebholo, whom he said every member of the ruling party is loyal to.

He said:

“The leader of the party in the state is the Governor of Edo State, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo. There have been insinuations that Senator Adams Oshiomhole and I are not working together, and that is very far from the truth. The only point where we differed was during the primaries. I insisted that the right thing should be done, and once I push for what is right, I do not renege until the proper thing is done. However, we have all gone past that stage. After the primaries, we had the election, we campaigned together, we won together, and since then we have continued to work together. There are absolutely no cracks on the wall.

“I have been acting, and this will be my first term to be confirmed as substantive chairman, having served under the caretaker arrangement. I also do not think the party will change a winning team. We started the fight to ensure that we had a good candidate and a good government in Edo State, and we achieved that. The next step is to support the government to succeed. As party chairman, it is my responsibility to stand with the governor, defend him, and ensure that he delivers the dividends of democracy he promised the people.”

On the feasibility of his promised 3.5 million votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, he said the party is doing everything within its means to ensure that people register with the APC, including the ongoing online registration, maintaining that he has been going round the country to appeal to Edo people who registered at home but live outside the state to see reasons to vote at home during the 2027 general election.

“By next week, we will receive all the Labour Party LGA chairmen into the APC. We have also held meetings with 16 PDP LGA chairmen who are defecting. If you look closely, you will see that the opposition has already collapsed. We analysed the voter register and discovered that Edo State has about three million registered voters, many of whom are not currently living in the state. I have been travelling across the country to meet Edo people who registered at home, encouraging them to return during the election. We have also concluded plans with donors to provide logistics to bring them back.”

On whether complaints of hunger and hardship across the country would not be a disadvantage to the APC during the election, he said that though there could be issues of hunger in the country, prices of goods are coming down, and many developments show that the President has direction and knows what he is doing.

He said the issue of insecurity existed long before President Tinubu assumed office and maintained that he is actively addressing it.

“People stopped going to farms due to insecurity, and that was not caused by this administration. I would trace some of the roots of insecurity to past policies, including the disbandment of specialised security forces and regional conflicts spilling into Nigeria. However, the President is doing his best to tackle insecurity, and progress is being made.”