2027: Drivers Ordered to Wear APC Caps in Edo State

Commercial drivers in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State have been ordered to wear caps branded with the All Progressives Congress (APC) logo or risk being removed from the motor park.

The directive was issued by the council chairman, Blessing Ebhodaghe, during a visit to a motor park in the area, where he addressed drivers and park officials.

A video of the encounter, which circulated on social media, showed the chairman warning the drivers against wearing caps or other political materials associated with parties other than the APC.

Ebhodaghe linked the directive to Governor Monday Okpebholo’s pledge to secure 2.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Edo State during the 2027 presidential election.

Okpebholo made the vote target in May, saying the figure was achievable based on the support witnessed during the APC presidential primary in his ward.

“That is why I took my time this morning to go round the whole park to give a standing warning to all my drivers because I am the chairman. We want everybody to join hands with us to deliver the promise,” Ebhodaghe said.

He told the drivers that the governor’s commitment to the President would have to be matched by political support from people working at the grassroots.

“The only thank you the governor has for the president is to deliver the 2.5 million votes. And the only payback me and you have for the governor is to make sure the promise he gave the president is fulfilled,” he said.

The council chairman warned the drivers against wearing caps or other materials belonging to opposition political parties.

“In this Onitsha park, I am here to give a standing warning to all my drivers. On no account should I see any driver put on a face cap or any material that does not belong to the party, APC,” he said.

Ebhodaghe added that his relationship with the chairman of the motor park would not prevent him from enforcing the directive.

“If I see anybody put on another cap, Ehijiele, the chairman of this park, is my very good friend. But there will be no friendship in this business. If I see anybody, I will come here and remove him,” he said.

He also appealed to the drivers to support Okpebholo’s administration, pointing to road construction as one of the reasons they should back the governor and the APC.

“If not because of the governor of Edo State, I know most of you drivers would have been inside today doing nothing because if the road is not good, drivers cannot work,” Ebhodaghe said.

“If the road is not good, you cannot drive anything. You cannot even find your daily bread. But because the road is good today, you can go to Onitsha and come back.”

“So, the person that did that one, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has somebody behind him, which is President Bola Tinubu.”

The chairman subsequently directed the deputy chairman of the park to distribute APC-branded caps he had brought for the drivers. He said the drivers would not be able to use lack of an APC cap as an excuse for failing to comply.

“Take this warning to your people and share the caps. Let nobody come and tell me, ‘Sir, I was not having cap, that is why the APC gave me cap.’ So, please, let there be no excuse,” he said.

Earlier in September, Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru also told newly inaugurated local government chairmen that they would be expected to deliver their respective council areas to the APC in the 2027 elections or risk losing their positions. He issued the warning during the swearing-in ceremony of 13 council chairmen and their deputies in Abakaliki.

Nwifuru told the chairmen that their responsibilities included working for the success of the party and warned that failure to secure their local government areas for the APC would have consequences.

“Chairmen, as local government chairmen, if you like, go and sleep and think that another person will take over your house. You will not stop us from winning. When we win, you know we will win, and we will remove any council chairman that did not win his local government. It is as simple as that,” he said.

The governor stressed that he was making the position publicly and challenged the media to give his warning prominent coverage.

“It is not hidden. Let the front page of the newspaper tomorrow carry it: ‘We will remove a council chairman that did not win his local government,’” Nwifuru declared.

He subsequently directed the newly elected council chairmen to return to their areas and commence mobilisation for the APC ahead of the 2027 elections.

“We cannot leave one position to any other political party. We will win 100 per cent in the general election. Go and tell our opposition that nobody is threatening them. We have now started campaigning. We are not threatening you; we will defeat you at the polls,” he said.

Nwifuru’s remarks followed the APC’s sweep of the August local government elections in Ebonyi, where the party was declared winner in all 13 local government areas and the 171 wards contested, according to reports on the exercise.