There was visible frustration from the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress after the party’s national convention in Abuja, with state chairman Jarrett Tenebe openly expressing anger over what he described as poor treatment of Edo delegates at the event.
Speaking from the convention ground, Tenebe did not hide his disappointment, saying Edo was unfairly pushed to a position that did not reflect the state’s standing or contribution within the ruling party. For him, it was not just about where delegates were seated or placed — it was about what that positioning symbolised.
“We’re not supposed to be put here because normally we’re always at the entrance of the convention,” Tenebe said, making it clear that he had been unhappy with the arrangement from the start. “Since yesterday, I’ve been protesting that they kept us here because we’re a state that has a governor.”
His frustration appeared to go deeper than protocol. Tenebe suggested that Edo’s effort in delivering the state to the APC should have counted for something more visible and more respectful. According to him, the state did not simply benefit from a convenient defection or political shortcut, but worked through what he presented as genuine political struggle and grassroots effort.
“Not that we spoke to our governor to cross to APC. We worked hard to make a governor for the state,” he said. That line seemed aimed at drawing a distinction between states that gained political relevance through defections and those, like Edo in his telling, that earned it through hard campaigning and party-building.
He also argued that such political effort should naturally have translated into higher recognition during an event as symbolic as the national convention. “And we expected that when you are considering positioning states, we’re supposed to be one of the first states to be positioned because we worked hard to flip the Edo State to APC.”
Tenebe then tied the complaint to a much bigger political promise. “And we are also convinced that as a state that has promised Mr President 3.5 million votes, to be kept in a place like this is not right,” he said, before ending with a line that sounded both defeated and annoyed: “But what do we do?”
His remarks have now drawn attention to the quiet tensions that often exist beneath party celebrations. Even within a ruling party, recognition matters. And for Edo APC, the feeling seems to be that after doing the heavy lifting politically, they should not be treated like an afterthought when the cameras are on.