The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that failure to accept him as its candidate in the state governorship election will spell doom for the party in the state.
Asue Ighodalo won the PDP primary at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City on Thursday; Philip Shaibu won the parallel election at a different venue.
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Speaking on the development on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Shuaibu maintained that he is the authentic candidate of the party for the September 21 election, saying that Edo people do not want Ighodalo, whom he said is not a homeboy.
“The option is for the PDP not to go and argue against my candidacy, if they do that PDP will lose Edo State. Edo people do not want Asue Ighodalo to be the governor of Edo State because he is not a homeboy they know.
“They are looking for someone that they know, somebody they can feel, somebody they can touch. PDP has a date with history, delegates have spoken that they want Shuaibu and I can bet you that the other eight aspirants will support Shuaibu if they party back him.
“If the party decides to join us in court to argue for Ighodalo then PDP then winning Edo State for PDP will be shaky because Asue will not be accepted by the people,” Shaibu said.
The deputy governor faulted the primary that produced Ighodalo, saying that it was organised by the state party executive instead of the national executive of the party.
He claimed that members of the state executive and the governor are supporters of Ighodalo and therefore were not going to conduct an unbiased election.
Shaibu insisted that he was elected by the authentic delegates of the party in the state.
“I was elected by the authentic delegates, what is key is who are those that elected the governor’s preferred candidate, Asue, and who are those that elected Philip Shaibu? I think in the coming days we will know who among them is authentic,” he said.
Shaibu also said his relationship with Governor Godwin Obaseki is not the best at the moment, suggesting that his governorship ambition could be the reason behind the strained relationship with the governor.
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