Immediate-past deputy governor of Edo State, Philip , on Sunday, said supporting the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State’s governorship poll slated for September 21, Senator Monday Okpebholo, falls within his inalienable rights just as Governor Godwin Obaseki is also supporting Asue Ighodalo, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Shaibu spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the Father’s Day celebration at the St. Paul Catholic Church in Benin City, the state capital on Sunday.
He said Ighodalo was a product of godfatherism, a lexicon he said has been eradicated from the political history of the state, which he said former governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, propagated and which he joined the incumbent governor to stop in the 2020 election.
He, however, said that he has also learnt new political strategies from Governor Obaseki.
According to him, “I am a very good learner and learning is what is most important in our lives, we must continue to learn till we die, the governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, says everybody has the right to support whoever he wants to support but he also forgot that he doesn’t have the right to stop anybody from supporting whoever he wants to support. So, it is my right to also decide who I want to support.
“I will support a home boy, I came in to contest to be governor of Edo State because I needed governance to return to a home boy, somebody that understands our plight, somebody that understands what the people are feeling, even the United Nations talks about needs assessment, we don’t want an outsider, we have experimented with an outsider and it is not working, so this time, we want a homeboy, I came into the contest as a home boy but today, we have only two home boys in the major political parties; one is in the Labour Party (LP) and one is in the All Progressives Congress (APC), and I chose to follow the home boy in the APC, the man they are parading in the PDP is an outsider and we have also agreed that no more godfatherism in Edo and the man PDP is parading is the godson of Obaseki and there is no way a godson can be governor of Edo State again.”
On whether he would not be accused of anti-party activity since he is still a member of the PDP, Shaibu said: “No, it is not anti-party because I know that in the last election, the governor was one leg in the Labour Party and one leg PDP so it can’t be anti-party now.”
On the capacity of Okpebholo, he said “Enough of English that takes us nowhere, we are talking about governance, the man that understands the plight of the people, he who wears the shoes know where it pinches, a man that has never voted, how can he be seeking for our vote, and we are comparing him to a man that is a sitting Senator who is really a home boy.
“When Akpata and Akpakomiza get home to their people, they speak their language, I have chosen one out of the two because I see Akpakomiza as an innocent politician, somebody that is grassrooted, somebody that is truly a home boy.”