Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, yesterday, said Governor Godwin Obaseki should have discussed his choice of a successor with him instead of intimidating and harassing him over his governorship ambition.
 
Shaibu spoke on a national television programme, monitored by our correspondent. The deputy governor had on Monday declared, officially, his intention to run for the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
 
Shaibu said: “He (Obaseki) said I am the type of deputy governor any governor will wish to have. So, what has changed? What has changed is that I want to be the governor of Edo State .
 
“Possibly, Obaseki wants somebody else. In a situation like that, what you do is not intimidation, it is not harassment; you call the 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.”  The PDP governorship aspirant said he would not yield to pressure or intimidation but could be won over through engagements and discussions.
 
“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 added.  Shaibu lamented that some supporters of the governor had not been able to separate loyalty from constitutional rights.
 
“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 them, he is still loyal to the governor.

MEANWHILE, an APC aspirant in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, Mr. Joe Ikpea, has said he would not be deterred in his quest to run for the governorship ticket of the party despite the streamlining of aspirants from his zone (Edo Central Senatorial District) to three.
 
Ikpea spoke to newsmen during a visit to the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council. He said being a major financier of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, he should be the best aspirant to clinch the party ticket.
 
He said: “We were invited for a meeting in Abuja where we were asked to provide our membership card, voter card, and proof of support for the party over the years. And if we go by that, I think I should be the person to be considered. If you look at the history of the party, I am one of the founding members, and not just a founding member, but one of the financiers of the party.”