Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, has asserted that Edo State was more secure during his tenure as governor than Anambra State was under the administration of Peter Obi. The former governor of Edo State made these remarks in an interview on a podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, with excerpts circulating on Sunday.
Oshiomhole, who governed Edo from 2008 to 2016, compared his security record with that of Obi, who led Anambra from 2006 to 2014 before handing over to Willie Obiano. He argued that Obi failed to effectively address insecurity in Anambra despite serving nearly eight years in office.
“Peter Obi could not fix insecurity in Anambra State. It took the intervention of Governor Obiano, who took over from him and began destroying the properties of those whom he believed had used their compounds for kidnapping,” Oshiomhole said.
He claimed that kidnapping was rampant during Obi’s administration and that the security situation deteriorated significantly. “It got to a situation where wives kidnapped husbands and husbands kidnapped wives and told children to bring money. It got to that level,” he added.
Oshiomhole maintained that Edo was safer than Anambra during the period both served as governors. “And Governor Obi, as he then was—I was a governor then; my state was safer than Anambra under Obi,” he stated.
The senator further alleged that Obi failed to adequately address insecurity and the activities of the Bakassi Boys before leaving office, questioning the former governor’s ability to tackle Nigeria’s broader security challenges. “So, if Obi couldn’t fix Anambra State and couldn’t handle the Bakassi Boys until Obiano intervened, do you think he is the one who will have the courage?” Oshiomhole asked.
He also criticized Obi’s recent comments against ethnic profiling, arguing that political leaders should move beyond identifying problems and provide practical solutions. “Recently, he said we shouldn’t be doing ethnic profiling. Fine. What then should we be doing?” he said. “Everybody knows that things are not perfect, but a statesman must provide answers. There have to be specific new things that they will bring. But we haven’t heard anything other than the buzzword, ‘Do the right thing.’”
Oshiomhole questioned what specific policies Obi was proposing and expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu would secure victory in the 2027 presidential election. “What is the right thing and what is the left thing? Tinubu will win hands down, and these people will not get the kind of votes they got before,” he said.
Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party and finished third, is now the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election.
