• Gov solicits monarch’s support to produce successor
•Yakubu steps down for Ighodalo
Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, yesterday, said the people of the state would resist Governor Godwin Obaseki during the upcoming gubernatorial election.
Shaibu said the governor was plotting to install Asue Ighodalo from Edo Central, as his successor; hence, he would be resisted during the election.
Featuring on Arise Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Show, Shaibu accused the governor of betraying him.
Shaibu, from Edo North senatorial district, however said that he is not fighting Obaseki over his decision to support Ighodalo, insisting that the governor is the one fighting him.
Shaibu lamented that despite his support and added political value to Obaseki, he betrayed him.He said: “The governorship of Edo State will not want an outsider, and the governor is trying to bring an outsider. We will resist it. I’m contesting this election not because of the fluke, but my people are interested in it.
“Anywhere I go, you can see the organic support; my support is not procedure like the governor is using taxpayers’ money to procure support for his candidate.
“I feel very betrayed by the governor. When we go to church, some biblical verses are beginning to make meaning to me since this incident started. The heart of man is desperately wicked. I added political value, finances and political structure for Obaseki’s second term.”
Shaibu accused Obaseki of attempting to play the role of a political godfather in Edo, which they both fought against after agreeing that such a situation should never again be experienced in the state.
MEANWHILE, after making it clear that he does not want Shaibu to succeed him, Obaseki pleaded with a traditional ruler in the state to support him to produce a “worthy” successor.
The governor will exit office in November after completing his second term. Obaseki, on Tuesday, was at Shaibu’s hometown, Auchi Kingdom, the headquarters of Etsako West Local Council of the state, for the 27th yearly Auchi Day celebration, where he made the appeal to the Otaru of Auchi, Aliru Momoh, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.
ALSO, the governorship aspiration of Ighodalo received a major boost, yesterday, as a former Chairman of Esan North East Council, John Yakubu, stood down his governorship ambition for Ighodalo.
Speaking with journalists at Igueben, the administrative headquarters of Igueben Local Council shortly after a closed-door meeting with the Edo Central Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Special Committee, headed by the former Foreign Affairs Minister, Tom Ikimi, the former governorship aspirant, Yakubu, said he decided to step down for the interest of the party, as well as positive activities displayed by the leading governorship aspirant.
