What Obaseki Should Have Done Instead Of Intimidating Me – Shaibu

What Obaseki Should Have Done Instead Of Intimidating Me – Shaibu

Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, expressed the view that Governor Godwin Obaseki should have consulted with him regarding his choice of a successor, accusing his superior of “intimidation” and “harassment.”

Shaibu made these remarks during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Tuesday.

The 53-year-old politician officially declared his candidacy for the September 21, 2024, governorship election in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday.

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Despite the challenges in his relationship with the governor, Shaibu emphasized that contesting the top office in the state is his constitutional right.

The deputy governor said, “He (Obaseki) said I am the type of deputy governor any governor will wish to have. So, what has changed? What has changed simply is that I want to be the governor of Edo State.

“Possibly, maybe he (Obaseki) wants somebody else. In a situation like that, what you do is not intimidation, it is not harassment; you call a family together, you call all of us (aspirants) together and give us reasons why you feel certain things should be. Tell us what you want. You don’t intimidate, you don’t harass.

“If I am governor tomorrow and my deputy wants to contest, he has the right to contest. If I want to support somebody else, I also have the right to support somebody else, not intimidation.

“No conversation and then the next thing is intimidation and harassment, not to somebody that has sacrificed for the government.”

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“I am someone that can easily give in after engagement but I am not somebody that can give in to intimidation. If I am to give in to intimidation, we won’t have democracy today,” Shaibu said.

He lamented that it was unfortunate that some supporters of the governors were not able to separate between loyalty and constitutional rights.

“It’s my cross I am carrying and that is why I have refused. I don’t need to fight. I am loyal to the governor; it’s not disputed but my right to contest is mine. Loyalty is given and it is fully given even with the humiliations and everything I am still loyal but when it comes to contest, it is my constitutional right,” he said.

Shaibu, who has been Obaseki’s deputy since 2016, said despite the sour relationship between himself and his principal, he is still loyal to the governor.

“I have no problem but I beg the governor, the governor should know he is the leader, he must be able to organise all of us, he must not love one more than the other. If he must do so, he must humiliate one,” Shaibu said, adding that he has been “praying that this whole relationship thing comes to normal”.

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