Philip Shaibu, reinstated Deputy Governor of Edo state has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki to be a ‘dictator’ in the manner he has government the south south state.
The embattled Deputy Governor was recently reinstated by a federal high court in Abuja, barely three months, after he was impeached by the state House of Assembly on April 8, 2024.
Shaibu has blamed Governor Obaseki for his predicament, saying his principal turned against him after he declared his ambition to succeed him as governor.
Following his reinstatement, Shaibu has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Speaking when he was received by the National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC on Thursday in Abuja, the nation’s capital Shaibu said the reason why he insisted in becoming the governor of the state, is because Obaseki threatened to destroy him if he refused to drop his ambition.
He said he refused to be pushed over by the governor who he assisted to win reelection, saying his quest to succeed Obaseki “is where the fight started.”
Part of what he said: “He (Obaseki) said, ‘You cannot contest because I have my plans’. The next thing was that he would destroy me if I continued. For me, no man can destroy the plan of God. As an activist, that day I made up my mind that I was going to contest. As of the time our conversation was on, I was still consulting. I went into the race and I won it because I played high-powered politics. They are not politicians. They rode on our back to where they are. In the politics I played, I actually had 400 out of the 572 delegates.
“A week to the primary, I lost some and had 381. So I brought those 381 on the day of the primary but they were refused accreditation. They took the accreditation tags and gave to their appointees to go and do Aso Ebi reception at the stadium they call primaries. Now, the court has ruled that the delegates I had were the authentic delegates and the ones they brought were fake. So as it is, they have boxed themselves into a corner where I don’t want to go because it is a legal issue.
“We are in court and by the grace of God, I had already been vindicated by two judgments. What is critical is that I want to prove internal democracy must be respected and allowed to play.
“You can lobby, you can talk to people and people will understand. If the governor had shown leadership, maybe I wouldn’t have contested because I am not a desperate person. My ambition is not inordinate. I have an ambition to fix the state.
“If somebody else can agree that we collectively fix it, I will follow. But the governor wanted to behave like a military dictator. And for me, we fought. I have captained people that have fought for this democracy. I started from the youth wing. I am sure I am one of the top people you will mention for this democracy that we now have. And for me, I cannot watch this democracy be derailed and allow dictatorship to take control,” Shaibu said.
The magazine reported that Shaibu’s return to the state recently following his reinstatement sparked violence leading to the death of one policeman.
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
