By Ozioruva Aliu, BENIN CITY

The Senator representing Edo Central Senatorial District, Joseph Ikpea said the three security outposts he built in parts of Esan South-East local government area when he was the chairman of the council are what security agencies are using today to check insecurity in the senatorial district.

He stated this in a chat with journalists where he said maintenance of the facilities and other pro-people projects are what he has also injected into the 2026 budget and pledged that he would ensure that the projects were all executed.

Ikpea who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 Senatorial Election lauded the development efforts of Governor Monday Okpebholo as the governor of the state and said he was also ensuring that all his inputs in the budget he presented before he became the governor were implemented.

According to him, “Before we were sworn as chairman, some money was saved for the councils and this money, we were told, would be used for capital projects.

“I initiated capital projects that comprehensively covered a lot of things. Among them were security posts now being used to check insecurity and kidnapping in Edo central. If you are coming from Ubiaja, you will see one security post built before the river leading to Ewatto because the road is lonely. I just felt then let me put it. We don’t know what tomorrow will look like. So I built that.

“Then I went before Ewato, I put one there. Then I went to Ewohimi, if you are going to Onicha Ugbo, I put another one there. By the grace of God today that is what the army is using, that is where they are staying now.”

He said a provision is also in the budget of 2026 to maintain the facilities.

“When I was chairman of council, there was no water, we were going to the Prison yard to fetch water but I built a borehole for the council and also acquired another source of electricity to power the council and the borehole.”

He said his administration also built a magistrate court in Ubiaja which was built from scratch to completion in addition to donating hospital equipment to all the health centres in the local government area.

The senator said as a member of the board of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), he attracted the renovation of public primary schools in the district and employment of 550 teachers into the state civil service.

He said since he was sworn-in in October 2025, he had been able to attract rehabilitation work in a primary school in Uromi through supplementary budget.