Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu has vowed to defeat the anointed candidate of Governor Godwin Obaseki in the governorship election in the state next year.
Shaibu made the declaration while appearing on a TVC programme on Monday evening. He said he had the backing of the people of the state and would not be deterred by Obaseki’s attempts to impose his will on the electorate.
“Definitely, I will defeat the so-called candidate of the governor, not because I have the power, but because Edo people want their own and I am their own. Edo people do not want importation; they want their own,” Shaibu said.
He accused Obaseki of allowing certain individuals with vested interests in governance to come between them. He also criticised Obaseki’s management style.
“The problem I have with the governor is that he has allowed certain individuals that have interest in governance to come between us,” Shaibu said. “He is managing in his own style and the way he feels he can manage it. I am also managing it the way I feel I can manage it.”
Shaibu said he understood the intimidation and oppression he had faced from Obaseki and his allies, but he remained undeterred.
“When I said I was pressed, but not distressed, I understand the kind of intimidation and oppression I have gone through,” he said.
The Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu also said the Governor should have discussed the choice of candidate with him.
Shaibu, who made this known on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday, said despite his not-so-smooth association with his principal, it is his constitutional right to contest the number one office in the state.
“He (Obaseki) said I am the type of deputy governor any governor will wish to have. So, what has changed? What has changed simply is that I want to be the governor of Edo State,” Shaibu said.
“Possibly, maybe he (Obaseki) wants somebody else. In a situation like that, what you do is not intimidation, it is not harassment; you call a family together, you call all of us (aspirants) together and give us reasons why you feel certain things should be. Tell us what you want. You don’t intimidate, you don’t harass.”
Shaibu lamented that it was unfortunate that some supporters of the governors were not able to separate between loyalty and constitutional rights.
“It’s my cross I am carrying and that is why I have refused. I don’t need to fight. I am loyal to the governor; it’s not disputed but my right to contest is mine. Loyalty is given and it is fully given even with the humiliations and everything I am still loyal but when it comes to contest, it is my constitutional right,” he said.
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Shaibu, who has been Obaseki’s deputy since 2016, said despite the sour relationship between himself and his principal, he is still loyal to the governor.
“I have no problem but I beg the governor, the governor should know he is the leader, he must be able to organise all of us, he must not love one more than the other. If he must do so, he must humiliate one,” Shaibu said, adding that he has been “praying that this whole relationship thing comes to normal”.
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