Okpebholo Breaks 35% Women Cabinet Promise, Appoints Two Women Out Of 20 Slots -AdvoKC Foundation

The AdvoKC Foundation has expressed deep concern over Governor Monday Okpebholo’s failure to honour his campaign promise of allocating 35 percent of cabinet positions to women, following the confirmation of new commissioners by the Edo State House of Assembly on August 20, 2025.

The House confirmed eight new commissioners nominated by the governor, bringing the total number of commissioners to 17. Alarmingly, only two of them are women. Before these appointments, there was just one female commissioner.

This means Governor Okpebholo’s cabinet, comprising 21 members (Governor, Deputy Governor, Chief of Staff, Secretary to the State Government, and 17 commissioners), includes only two women, representing less than 10% of the cabinet.

During the confirmation proceedings, Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, expressed concern over the imbalance, noting that only one of the eight new nominees was a female.

According to the Directorate of Cabinet, Political, and Special Services, “Only two commissioner slots remain vacant. Even if both are filled by women, the governor’s cabinet will still fall short of the promised 35% quota, making this pledge impossible to achieve.

“This is a clear case of a broken promise and a setback for gender inclusivity in Edo State,” said Nelson Otabor, Programme Lead for the Okpebholometer at AdvoKC Foundation. “Edo women are not asking for token inclusion — they are demanding fair representation. It is disappointing that a pledge, which inspired hope during the campaign has been abandoned in

 practice.”

AdvoKC Foundation is tracking this promise as part of its Okpebholometer project under Promise Tracker, a citizen accountability platform monitoring campaign and governance commitments supported by Nigeria Youth Futures Fund. 

“The status of this and other promises can be viewed at promisetracker.ng/statetracker/edo

We call on Governor Okpebholo to take urgent corrective steps by ensuring women are meaningfully included in other strategic appointments across government and by adopting policies that genuinely empower women. Edo women deserve more thansymbolic gestures; they deserve the representation that was promised to them.”