As Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo swears in today, October 14, 2025, the 20 civil commissioners screened and confirmed by the Edo State House of Assembly, anxiety over a probable shake-up is reported to have gripped some incumbent members of the State Executive Council.
DAILY POST reports that Governor Okpebholo had, between November 12, 2024, the day of his inauguration as governor and January 2025, appointed nine commissioners.
The governor, who had been governing the state with these nine commissioners until August 1, 2025, nine months after assuming office, began the nomination of another batch of commissioners.
Between August 1, 2025, and October 3, 2025, he nominated 21 commissioners, out of which only one, Hon. Chris Okaeben, has yet to be confirmed by the House of Assembly due to an alleged petition before the Department of State Security (DSS).
With the swearing-in of the 20 confirmed commissioners, speculation is rife that a minor cabinet shake-up is likely, as some incumbents may be redeployed from their present ministries.
Sources close to the government reveal that Hon. Samson Osagie, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, and Hon. Paul Ohonbamu may be affected by the shake-up.
The sources added that Prof. Roland Otaru, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), may replace Samson Osagie as Commissioner for Justice, while Prince Kassim Afegbua may replace Hon. Paul Ohonbamu.
It was gathered that Samson Osagie is still being haunted by allegations of financial infractions that led to his suspension alongside Hon. Lawani Damian, the former chairman of the Local Government Service Commission.
While Osagie has since been exonerated and reinstated as commissioner, Lawani Damian was not so lucky, as he was sacked and replaced by Hon. Kabiru Adjoto, the former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly.
Ohonbamu, on the other hand, has been alleged to be incompetent in managing the government’s image and defending the governor’s policies and programmes.
It was reported that his undoing was his inability to defend the governor’s statement regarding the ordered banning of Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, from entering Edo State without permission, during a cable TV live programme.
It was further alleged that it took the intervention of Prince Kassim Afegbua, who appeared on the same cable TV programme, to defend and correctly frame the governor’s statement.
The governor was reportedly elated and impressed with Prince Afegbua’s journalistic acumen and decided to reward him with a commissioner position.
Another source explained that Kassim Afegbua was initially not interested in serving as a civil commissioner in the current administration.
It was also gathered that the governor believes Afegbua’s appointment would help strengthen the media department of his administration.
However, the main opposition party in the state, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has reportedly capitalized on the alleged inefficiencies of the governor’s media handlers.
Some party chieftains have criticized the media team for being ineffective and not proactive in responding to issues, particularly regarding security and alleged poor governance.
One PDP chieftain in the state, Hon. Shedrach Udugbai, on his Facebook page, described Governor Okpebholo’s media handlers as “the greatest failures.”
According to him, it is disheartening to see a governor who allegedly spends billions on media being dragged, reduced, and cornered by both mainstream and social media without an adequate response.
He wrote: “How can a poorly funded opposition like the Edo PDP, a party alleged to be in disarray, present two unemployed individuals, Hon. Shedrach Udugbai and Hon. Ogbeide Ifaluyi Isibor, men without salary or funding, and yet they are holding the state government to ransom on every issue of alleged ‘clueless governance’?
“Honestly, this is bad for a ‘MODERN’ government. They are persistently under the hammer.
“Across the globe, in every democratic system, the opposition must criticise the government; they must look for loopholes in all government policies.
“And simultaneously, every responsible government must respond adequately to reassure the electorate, utilising it as an avenue to continually win their trust, commitment, and support.
“Today, the Edo State Government is totally incapacitated across all media platforms. The image of this government is in tatters.
“Ironically, when the opposition speaks on issues of governance, the media handlers of Okpebholo practically go into hiding.
“This is totally unacceptable. If people could manage Buhari and all his excesses at a national scale, what excuse do these men have not to effectively manage Okpebholo?
“Just imagine having five professionals doing one thing, and yet they are ardently failing on the job.
“Okpebholo should reshuffle his media team. We in the opposition are tired of their poor performance. We need competent hands to combat, not vegetables.”
