Political Career

Gideon Obhakhan started his political journey in his early days while he was a student at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi. He contested and won the presidency of his departmental association in 1993. He was also very active at the University of Benin, where he became  the political adviser to the Students’ Union Government (SUG) President in 1998. Even as a student, and as a democrat that he is, he was fully involved in the struggle for the return to democratic rule in Nigeria. This informed his decision to join the Campaign for Democracy (CD), which had the renowned Human Rights Activist Beko Ransome Kuti as its leader.

After graduating from the University of Benin, Gideon focused on building his professional career as well as deepening his knowledge academically in various fields.

In 2015, he contested the position of the Federal House of Representatives to represent the people of Esan West/Esan Central/lgueben Federal Constituency under platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He eventually became the candidate of the party in the 2015 general elections. The outcome of the election did not favour him, but he remained committed to the party.

In October 2015, he was appointed as Commissioner for Education by the then governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, so he could bring his immense experience to bear in the development of the educational sector in the State. Gideon brought his experience to bear in the discharge of his duties by championing the innovative programmes of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s administration.

Chief among these programmes was the Red Roof Revolution, which involved the construction of new standard grade classrooms, as well as reconstruction of dilapidated structures in the entire 192 wards in Edo State.

Another landmark achievement during his short time as Commissioner was the innovative policy which was established to efficiently deploy teachers to teach across the Junior and Senior secondary schools to optimize value derivable from their wealth of experience in specific areas. This led to cost reduction in government spending and created more value for Edo State students. In addition to these, he provided the required leadership to drive the formulation and implementation of the state’s education policies in line with national policy on Education.

Since leaving office as Commissioner for Education, Gideon has continued to support APC and contributed immensely to its development. He has occupied key positions in all the elections that his party has been involved in as part of his commitment to the success of the party. In the last governorship election held in 2020 in Edo State, he was in several State Campaign Council committees, which included the following:

• Chairman, Election Research Planning and Strategy Committee;
• Chairman, Committee on Media Research;
• Vice Chairman, Sub Committee on Outdoor Advert and Campaign.
• Chairman, Edo Central Committee on Non–Edo Indigenes;
• Member, State Security Committee;
• Director, Research and Statistics, Pastor Osagie Ize-lyamu (POI) Campaign Organisation.
• In the just concluded 2023 presidential election, he played a key role in two national committees below:
• Secretary, Public Affairs Directorate, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council; and
• Member, Reconciliation Directorate, Independent Campaign Organization for Tinubu/Shettma Presidential Campaign Council.