By Ayodele Oni
Former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, may have moved on in his political career following his unceremonious removal by the state House of Assembly as he resumed political meeting with Senatorial members.
During one of the meetings at Irrua, Shuaibu advised leaders of the senatorial district to think seriously before voting for a preferred candidate during the governorship election.
He stated that any governorship candidate that cannot speak or understand his dialect cannot govern the state.
Shaibu, who spoke ahead of the Edo 2024 governorship election, added that he would only support a “homeboy” to become the governor.
According to him, any candidate who needed the help of an interpreter did not qualify as a homeboy because of his inability to speak the dialect of the Edo people.
“Today, we have decided that a homeboy that we know will become the governor of Edo State. You already know that Edo born in Lagos State is not a homeboy.
“Is somebody who comes here with an interpreter a homeboy? So, if that is a minus it means we will look for a homeboy.”
Although Shaibu did not mention the particular candidate he was referring to, it was apparent that he was throwing a jibe at the governorship candidate of the PDP, Asue Ighodalo.
Ighodalo had drawn flaks from stakeholders in the state after he hired an interpreter to announce his intention to his kinsmen at a ward in Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government Area of the state earlier.
Ighodalo was seen in a video when he met with his kinsmen during his campaign to secure the PDP ticket then, and he addressed the crowd in English Language to seek their support while an interpreter translated his words into the Esan dialect.
