Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of Edo State and a candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship in the upcoming election, has declared that no one can prevent him from becoming governor.
Shaibu reportedly said on Monday that he would like to run for governor in 2024, according to PUNCH online.
The election is scheduled for September 21, 2024, as declared earlier by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The deputy governor claimed he was in the ideal position to succeed his principal since he had been in politics for thirty years and had worked with Governor Godwin Obaseki for the past seven years to enhance the state.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily program on Tuesday, Shaibu declared, “I promise to get the ticket and to put my name and the party’s name on the ballot.” My name will be there, therefore nothing will happen.
“My name will be sent to INEC and I will be the candidate for the party in the election because I don’t do things without checking. I have gone round and consulted and I have been assured.”
Shaibu further admitted that Adams Oshiomhole is his father and would find time to apologise to him.
He said, “My relationship with Adams Oshiomhole is cordial. When I mean cordial, he is still my father. Politically, we are in different political parties.”
He added, “I am happy that the governor (Obaseki) has started inviting the former governor (Oshiomhole) and my father to political functions. That is what I have been praying for.
“And now that he has started, I think that the next step is for me to reach him and also first apologise to him (Oshiomhole) for some use of words during the election but in terms of principle of supporting Obaseki, I will still support Obaseki because God told me that is the right thing to do.
“One of the crises that I had was when I went to the Senate to congratulate Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and I was seen in a viral video. That was where my headache started because the governor’s style is that a friend of the governor, you must be friend to him and an enemy to the governor, you must be enemy to him. I understand that principle and I am being careful.
“What I was waiting for was for the governor to make that move because I will not make that move if the governor had not made the move. Now that he has made the move to be inviting Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, I am emboldened to go and see him,”
Earlier, on Monday, during his formal declaration, Shaibu had said, “Nobody can stop my ambition.”
The deputy governor promised to deliver practical governance if elected governor of the state in 2024.
Shaibu, who vowed to deliver practical governance said, “They (Edo people) have asked me to go and run and they said I am the one they see not just as a street boy but original own boy that can live there.
“I can assure you that by the grace of God, we will deliver practical governance.”
