***Showcases achievements, urges overseas Edo sons and daughters to invest at home

***Targets diaspora support for Tinubu’s re-election, Edo’s economic transformation

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has taken his administration’s political and development campaign beyond Nigeria’s shores, courting Edo indigenes in the United Kingdom to rally support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election and attract greater diaspora investment to the state.

Rather than a conventional political rally, the London engagement combined governance, economic diplomacy and electoral mobilisation, with the governor presenting what he described as his administration’s scorecard while urging Edo professionals abroad to become active partners in the state’s transformation.

The meeting, held under the aegis of Shine Beyond Borders and hosted by the London Professional Training Centre, formed part of a broader strategy to reconnect with Edo communities overseas and harness their influence, expertise and investment for the state’s development.

Addressing participants, Okpebholo said Edo’s diaspora should no longer see themselves merely as observers but as stakeholders with a direct role in shaping the state’s future.

He appealed to professionals, entrepreneurs and investors living abroad to return home with their knowledge, technology, business networks and capital, saying Edo was becoming an increasingly attractive destination for investment.

The governor also used the occasion to market his administration’s achievements, citing ongoing improvements in infrastructure, security, healthcare, education and economic development under the SHINE Agenda.

Among the projects highlighted were the Ramat Park Flyover in Benin City, the reconstruction of the Ekpoma–Auchi section of the Benin–Okene Highway with concrete pavement, the extension of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway through Edo State, the establishment of an Army Forward Operational Base, the siting of MOPOL 82 Squadron, recruitment of 500 Forest Guards and the approval of a new Army Division for the state.

With an eye on the 2027 elections, Okpebholo urged Edo indigenes in the diaspora to unite behind his administration and support his pledge to deliver 2.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

Speaking without prepared remarks, the governor described the gathering as a reunion with members of one family scattered across the world.

“Some of you left Edo as children. Some of you have never even seen Edo, but you grew up hearing the names of your communities from your parents. That is true love that has survived oceans,” he said.

Inviting them to reconnect with their roots, he added: “To those of you here who have never seen your ancestral home, I invite you to come back, not as visitors, but as owners.”

Okpebholo also urged the diaspora to judge his government by its performance rather than narratives circulating on social media.

“Judge our administration by our performance and not from online mischiefs and propaganda,” he said, while encouraging participants to project Edo positively and promote its investment opportunities abroad.

The governor credited President Tinubu’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy, with giving state governments greater fiscal capacity to execute development projects.

According to him, the reforms have ended the era when states depended on federal bailouts to meet basic obligations.

“The era of governors queuing up for bailouts in Abuja before they could pay workers’ salaries is over. Today, states have more money not only for salaries but enough to undertake infrastructural development as can be witnessed in Edo State in recent times,” he said.

The event also had clear political undertones as the governor presented branded face caps and other souvenirs bearing President Tinubu’s image to participants, reaffirming his support for the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, attended the meeting, lending further political weight to the diaspora outreach.