Former deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has thrown his support behind All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Monday Okpebholo for the upcoming governorship election scheduled for September 21, 2024. Shaibu announced his endorsement during the 2024 Father’s Day celebration at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Shaibu, who was recently impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly following a protracted conflict with Governor Godwin Obaseki over his own gubernatorial ambitions, emphasized the importance of local representation in the state’s leadership.
“The governorship race started with three homeboys: myself, Okpebholo, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party,” Shaibu said. “I will support a homeboy. I came into politics to contest as the governor of Edo State because I believe in the need for the government to return to someone who understands our plight and what the people are feeling.”
Shaibu underscored his preference for local candidates, arguing that previous attempts with non-locals had not been successful. “Even the United Nations talks about the need for local assessment. We don’t want outsiders. We have experimented with outsiders and it’s not working. So this time around, we want a homeboy,” he stated.
With Shaibu out of the race, he noted that his support now lies with Okpebholo. “We have only two homeboys in the major political parties in Edo State. One is in Labour, and one is in APC. I choose to follow another homeboy in the APC,” Shaibu declared. He criticized the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate as an outsider and a “godson” of Governor Obaseki, emphasizing the need to end godfatherism in Edo politics.
Despite his affiliation with the PDP, Shaibu stressed that his support for Okpebholo is not an act of disloyalty. He highlighted that Governor Obaseki himself had previously received backing from both the PDP and the Labour Party in past elections. “The governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, says that everybody has the right to support whoever they want. He forgot also that he doesn’t have the right to stop anybody from supporting whom they want,” Shaibu pointed out. “But I take one part from what he said: we all have the right to support whom we want to support, so it’s my right to decide who I want to support.”
Shaibu’s endorsement of Okpebholo signals a significant shift in the political landscape of Edo State as the election approaches, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing political dynamics.
