Edo State’s All Progressives Congress chairman, Jarrett Tenebe, has defended Governor Monday Okpebholo after a public blunder during the 2025 budget proposal reading.
On Tuesday, Okpebholo’s budget presentation quickly became the subject of both amusement and criticism after he stuttered and struggled with figures.
The governor, nervously presenting the N605 billion appropriation bill, a 25% increase from the 2024 budget, repeatedly faltered during the session.
“The Edo state Appropriation Bill of six billion… 605 billion… 76 million…” Okpebholo began, his voice trembling, his hands unsteady. After pausing to regain composure, he continued
“Let me take it again. 506 billion… 605 billion… sorry… 776 billion… sorry, it’s confusing me.”
The moment was met with a mix of laughter and murmurs from lawmakers, but it soon sparked a wave of online discussion, with social media users quick to highlight the error.
In response to the mockery and criticism that followed, Tenebe took to a video to defend the governor.
He downplayed the significance of the mistake, suggesting that it was an innocent slip-up rather than a sign of incompetence.
According to Tenebe, the governor’s struggles with numbers were proof that he is not involved in the misappropriation of public funds, a reference to past political controversies in Edo.
“It’s a normal thing. People make such mistakes,” Tenebe said, adding that he himself was not well-versed in figures.
“I don’t know figures… and that’s how to know original and innocent people. Monday Okpebholo is not a thief, and he is not familiar with figures.”
The APC chair went further to criticize those who had ridiculed Okpebholo, asserting that the governor was performing well and would continue to do so. “Anybody who wants to talk and continue to talk is nonsense,” Tenebe declared. ”
He is the governor of the state, he is performing, and he’ll continue to perform, and anybody who does not like his face should go to hell and burn to ashes. Period!”
While Okpebholo’s misstep may have amused some, Tenebe’s passionate defense underscores a broader sentiment within the APC that the governor is being unfairly targeted.