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Benin City, 2nd October 2025 — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State registers its profound disquiet and condemnation at the recent public spectacle in which a non-Benin woman purported to inaugurate market leadership positions in Benin Kingdom, an act the Oba of Benin has himself described as alien to our culture. The Oba is the living repository of Benin native law, custom, and tradition; his pronouncements on matters of our heritage are final and must be treated with the reverence they deserve.
We are particularly alarmed that this affront to centuries-old institutions of the Benin market system was permitted to take place with the apparent connivance or complacency of Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration and officials attached to the Government House. The deliberate flouting of palace protocol and the public marginalisation of the Oba’s constitutional and customary role cannot be permitted, normalised, or shrugged off as mere accident.
The PDP makes these points plain and without equivocation:
1. The Oba of Benin is custodian of our culture, history, and heritage. Any act that disrespects the Palace is an act of disrespect to every Edo man and woman.
2. Market leadership in Benin has its own native process. Iyeki (market leaders) are selected by market women and confirmed by the Palace, not parachuted in by outsiders.
3. In Benin, there is no place for a “general Iyeki.” Each market has its own Iyeki, with spiritual and cultural duties performed on behalf of the Oba within that specific market. The Iyeki of Oba Market has no role to play in Ogiso Market, nor does the Iyeki of New Benin control Uwelu. To suggest otherwise is to impose a foreign invention on our sacred institutions.
4. The public chanting of non-Edo songs and incantations, and the theatrical elements staged during the alleged “inauguration” were acts of cultural insensitivity and, to many, sacrilegious. They violated the dignity of the Palace and the people it represents.
5. The Oba’s counsel that the Iyalọja “concept is alien to us here in Benin” must be accepted and acted upon by every public official. To ignore that counsel is to set our institutions and traditions on a collision course with reckless political theatre.
6. No one, individual or government, has the right to usurp the custodial functions of the Oba. Any attempt to create parallel or “general” market leadership structures that undermine the Palace-confirmed order will be resisted by Edo people at home and in the diaspora.
7. Governor Okpebholo and his appointees must explain themselves. The people of Edo deserve to know who authorised or facilitated the event in Government House, and under whose instruction the Palace was disrespected.
8. This is not merely a cultural matter, it is a political test. Edo is not for sale. Our traditions are not bargaining chips for political expediency or a stage for partisan showmanship.
Our Demands
The Peoples Democratic Party therefore demands the following immediate steps:
A public and unambiguous apology to the Oba of Benin and to the Edo people from the office of the Governor and from any official involved in organising the event.
A meeting between the Palace and the state government to reaffirm the Palace’s custodial role over native customs and market institutions.
A formal undertaking that no future inauguration, appointment, or public recognition of market leaders will take place without prior consultation and confirmation by the Palace, as required by custom.
An independent review of the role of the First Lady’s office and Government House protocol in staging events affecting Benin cultural institutions, with findings to be made public.
Our Call to Action
We call on all Edos — men and women, old and young, at home and in the diaspora — to rally in defence of our heritage. Do so peacefully, lawfully, and with the dignity that defines our people. Mobilise cultural associations, market unions, and community leaders to insist that the Palace’s role be respected and protected.
Finally, let it be known that the PDP will use every lawful political and civic means to resist the erosion of our institutions. We will raise this matter in the appropriate fora, support legal remedies where necessary, and ensure that those who treat Edo tradition as a footnote to political theatre are held to account.
We remain firm in our conviction that respect for the Oba and for our native customs is a non-negotiable foundation of civic life in Edo State. Any administration that treats our culture with contempt will meet with the determined, peaceful, and principled resistance of our people.
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