In a move that will signal fresh animosity between Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and his Deputy, Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor, Monday officially declared to run for the 2024 governorship election in the state.
This will pit the governor against his deputy who only recently quashed their public spat.
Shaibu may incur the wrath of the governor with this declaration which is in stark contrast to Obaseki’s insistence that it is the turn of Edo Central to produce the next governor of the state.
Shaibu is from Edo North Senatorial District, the same district as ex-governor of the state and current lawmaker representing the district in the 10th National Assembly, Adams Oshiomhole.
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Obaseki, in spirit of fairness had insisted that Edo Central be allowed to produce the next governor of the state.
However, in apparent defiance of his principal’s position, Shaibu in a pre-recorded speech aired today disclosed that he would run for the office of the number one in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
After his official declaration, Shaibu launched his campaign office in Benin City, the state capital, at an event crowded with party supporters in branded accoutrements.
“After all the consultations we have made, we needed to now make the answer to our consultations known to our people. And the answer is clear: they have asked me to run,” Shaibu said amid reverberating cheers of loyalists.
The 53-year-old politician said he has put his life on the line for the development and growth of the state and he was determined to make the South-South state great again.
Shaibu, who has been having a running battle with his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, for sometime over his political ambition, said though he was persecuted, he was not crushed.
Both Obaseki and Shaibu were once allies of Oshiomhole but the political association among them tumbled towards the 2020 governorship election when the ex-labour leader was accused of ‘godfatherism’ which he denied.
In the last election, Obaseki and Shaibu trounced Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) despite that the APC candidate was backed by Oshiomhole and other APC heavyweights including ex-governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, and ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
The hurdle ahead of Shaibu is a rough patch. To succeed Obaseki, Shaibu would have to first contend with other PDP aspirants for the party’s ticket and then with other main gladiators on September 21, 2024, the date fixed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to hold the governorship poll.
Edo is one of the eight states with off-cycle governorship polls due to litigations and court judgements. The others are Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun and Ondo.
