Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has accused some politicians who opposed former President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the 2015 presidential election of regrouping against President Bola Tinubu as political activities gather momentum ahead of 2027.
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Okpebholo, who did not identify the politicians he was referring to, made the remarks on Thursday during the flag-off of the Federal Government’s emergency intervention on the Benin-Asaba Road in Edo State, where he also defended Tinubu’s economic policies and argued that Nigerians were paying less for petrol than motorists in the United Kingdom.
The governor declared that there was “no vacancy in Aso Rock,” insisting that politicians preparing to challenge Tinubu should wait rather than spend money seeking the presidency.
“People that want to contest now against Tinubu have all ruled in one way or the other, either in low capacity or in higher capacity,” Okpebholo said.
He linked his argument to the administration of Jonathan, who lost his re-election bid to Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, claiming that some of those now opposed to Tinubu were among the political forces that worked against Jonathan.
According to him, Jonathan’s administration had sought to expand education for Almajiri children in northern Nigeria but encountered political opposition.
“While they were there, they fought former President Goodluck Jonathan because he wanted to build Almajiri schools to educate youths and Almajiri so that there would be no problem like what we are having today. But they fought him and made sure he lost the election,” the governor said.
Jonathan’s administration did establish an Almajiri education programme aimed at integrating Islamic and Western education, with more than 100 model schools constructed or completed under the initiative. However, Okpebholo’s assertion about the motives of those who opposed Jonathan in 2015 is his political assessment and was not accompanied by the names of the individuals he had in mind.
Okpebholo alleged that the same political interests were now attempting to prevent Tinubu from securing another term.
“The same set of people are still ganging up again to fight President Tinubu so that he would not come back,” he said.
“There is no vacancy in Aso Rock. Asiwaju’s eight years must be completed.”
The governor advised prospective challengers not to waste their resources, claiming politicians could collect their campaign funds without ultimately supporting them at the ballot box.
He also introduced what he described as the distinction between Tinubu and “supermarket people,” although he did not expressly identify the opposition figures to whom the description was directed.
“Our president is not a supermarket man, but supermarket people want to rule Nigeria now, even when there is no vacancy in Aso Rock,” Okpebholo said.
“Let them wait. When it is the turn of supermarket people, and if there is no technocrat, they can contest for president.”
He added that if previous leaders had performed to the standard he attributed to Tinubu, the President would not have inherited as much work to do.
Okpebholo also used the road event to defend the economic direction of the Tinubu administration, describing the President as an economist working to stabilise the country.
He argued that the reforms currently being implemented were difficult but would eventually yield benefits, likening the process to an aircraft taking off before reaching cruising altitude.
“I want to let you know, very soon Nigeria will be on the cruising level,” he said.
The governor then drew a comparison between petrol prices in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, saying he had personally checked the price during a recent visit to London.
“Nigeria is in a safe hand. When we complained about the cost of petrol, I was in London last week,” he said.
“I told my friends, let’s go and buy fuel just to know the cost of fuel between Nigeria and England. Let me tell you. After conversion, it’s about N3,000 something to one litre of fuel. We are doing very well here.”
Available UK pump-price data broadly support the governor’s nominal currency comparison. The average petrol price in Britain on September 24 was reported at about £1.74 per litre, which translated to more than ₦3,000 per litre at prevailing exchange rates. Individual filling-station prices, however, vary.
In Nigeria, petrol was selling at around ₦1,400 per litre in Lagos and Abuja, with some locations recording higher prices as global crude prices and Middle East tensions pushed domestic pump prices upward. Reuters reported on September 21 that prices had reached approximately ₦1,400 per litre in Lagos and Abuja and up to ₦1,500 in parts of northern Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s latest published price figures cited in reports put petrol at about ₦1,385 per litre in Lagos and ₦1,430 in Abuja, although actual retail prices vary by location.
Okpebholo used the comparison to defend Tinubu’s economic management.
“We are doing very well here. The President is stabilising the economy. He’s an economist,” he said.
He returned to his earlier political metaphor, adding: “Our president is not a supermarket man. The supermarket people, let them wait. When it’s time for a supermarket to rule Nigeria and technocrats are not here again, then, they will come.”
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