Edo Deputy Governor Vows to Pursue Political Ambition Despite Intimidation

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr Philip Shaibu, says intimidation and harassment will not change his resolve in the pursuit of his political ambition in the forthcoming Edo 2024 election.

The Deputy Governor who disclosed this in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital, warned his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to stick with him or face the prospect of losing the September exercise.

“The level of intimidation and harassment meted out to me and those people who believe in me was beyond comprehension, yet it does not actually change our resolve in what we believe in.

“I am aware that they had another primary and in the coming days you will know who is authentic and who is not authentic because even from the results that they declare, it’s laughable.

“A deputy governor that was NANS President that was two-time majority leader, eight years in the House of Assembly, a Deputy Governor that was House of Rep, that was pulled back because of his political strength to compliment a ticket that would have failed without a politician that is known and accepted is now getting one vote. Somebody that is not known at all is getting 577 votes,” he explained.

The Deputy Governor also said that elections were about contestation, that the other primary that produced Mr Asue Ighodalo as its candidate disenfranchised 381 delegates.

He says, “the electoral law forbids exclusion, an election can be re-ordered because of exclusion, it is a major sin that the law forbids.”

Rules and Guidelines

Shaibu further said for the PDP to win the upcoming governorship election in the state, it should adhere strictly to its own rules and guidelines.

He said though political parties have the right to produce candidates, such rights must comply with the electoral laws and the party’s own guidelines.

“If the guideline is not followed in the process of producing your candidate, that candidate cannot see the light of day, So the ultimate right of any party is to follow your rules in producing your candidate”, Philip Shaibu said in articulating his ambition,” he said.

The Edo State Deputy Governor therefore, said that his emergence as a candidate was no longer about him and his ambition but the people, that it was imperative the party listened to the voice of the people.

He stressed that the PDP must adhere to the electoral laws and party guidelines to be able to win the upcoming election in the state

“It tell you where the results were written, and if you check what they did, it was more like a celebration of either wedding reception or burial reception. You see the primaries where every local government had an aseo-ebi, it tells you, it speaks volume, check what they did. Every local government has its own uniform and that is the primaries.

“It shows that there was no contestation, that is what they did shows, there was no contestation because if there was contestation, you don’t have local government by local government wearing the same attire. It shows that it was more like a party, what the Yoruba popularly called ‘owambe,

“In the coming days, I don’t want to go into details of certain things that we will be meeting in court because some of these things are not something I should speak to. But as we move on, things will keep on unfolding and you’ll get the nitty-gritty at the end of the day. So that is where we are today,” the Deputy Governor explained.

He said if the party truly desired to win the election on September 21, 2024, it would field a popular and competent candidate not impose a candidate on the people.

He added that there were party guidelines for electing a governorship candidate, just as there is an electoral law guiding political activities.

Confidence Okwuchi