“No APC Cap, No Trading”: Edo Council Chairman’s Directive Sparks Outrage

A commercial driver’s cap has suddenly become a political matter in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The council chairman, Blessing Albert Ebhodaghe, has warned commercial drivers operating from motor parks in the area against wearing caps or other materials associated with opposition political parties, saying those who violate the directive could lose access to the parks.

In a video circulating online, Ebhodaghe described the warning as a “standing warning” and told drivers that he did not want to see anyone wearing political materials that did not belong to the All Progressives Congress.

He reportedly linked the directive to Governor Monday Okpebholo’s pledge to deliver 2.5 million votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

That connection is important because the governor himself has repeatedly made the 2.5 million-vote target a public political commitment.

Okpebholo first made the pledge in 2025 and has repeated it several times in 2026. In September, while inaugurating the newly elected local government chairmen, he urged them to work towards delivering the target for Tinubu while also telling them to prioritise grassroots development and shun corruption.

When Party Politics Enters the Motor Park

The controversy is not simply about an APC cap.A political party is entitled to campaign and seek supporters.

A commercial driver is also entitled to participate in political activity, subject to the law.

The difficult question arises when access to a public facility appears to be linked to wearing the symbol of a particular party.

According to reports of Ebhodaghe’s statement, drivers wearing materials belonging to other parties could be denied access to the motor park.

That raises a basic civic question: is a council motor park a public transport facility or an extension of a political party’s campaign structure?If access to a public facility is actually conditioned on political allegiance, that would require serious legal and administrative scrutiny.

The chairman’s position also sits awkwardly beside the constitutional principle of freedom of association and political participation.

Citizens do not surrender those rights because they drive commercial vehicles.

The Governor’s 2.5 Million-Vote Target

ValidViewNetwork reports that the council chairman’s remarks cannot be separated from a broader political campaign already being openly pursued by the Edo State government.

Okpebholo has said the 2.5 million votes promised to Tinubu would come from the administration’s projects across the state.

In June, he specifically linked infrastructure projects to the electoral target. The governor repeated the target at the September inauguration of the 18 elected local government chairmen.

There is nothing unusual about a politician campaigning for a candidate or setting an electoral target. The issue becomes different when government officials appear to move from persuasion to coercion.

That distinction matters.A governor can ask citizens to vote for a candidate. A party can organise supporters. A council chairman can belong to a political party.But the office of a local government chairman is a public office, and a motor park serving commercial drivers is not supposed to become a test of party loyalty.

A Pattern Worth Watching

Ebhodaghe is not entirely new to the political-security conversation in Esan West. In July, he was publicly credited by the Edo government with helping persuade a 29-year-old aspiring musician to renounce cultism and surrender a Beretta pistol after the chairman raised a security alert over suspicious activity near a school.

That episode presented him in a security and community-protection role. The latest controversy presents a different picture, because the complaint is now about political expression and access to public transport facilities.

It is also notable that Okpebholo has previously attracted criticism over the intensity of his political messaging.

A former Edo governorship candidate, Patience Ofure-Key, urged him in March 2026 to focus on governance rather than campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election.

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The criticism does not establish wrongdoing by the governor, but it helps explain why the latest council directive is attracting attention beyond one motor park.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the real test here is not whether the APC should campaign in Edo. It is whether public office and public facilities can be used to pressure citizens into displaying partisan loyalty.

If the chairman’s remarks were accurately reported, the appropriate response is not another party confrontation.

The Edo State Government and relevant authorities should clarify whether political clothing has any bearing whatsoever on access to government-regulated motor parks.

Citizens should be free to wear an APC cap, a PDP cap, an ADC cap, an Obi-Kwankwaso cap, or no political cap at all without being denied a public service or facility, subject to lawful regulations that apply equally to everyone.

Politics should ask for votes.It should not demand uniforms. ValidViewNetwork reports.