Impeached Deputy Gov Switches Sides Ahead of Edo Poll

Philip Shaibu

Philip Shaibu, the impeached deputy governor, announces his support for the opposition candidate ahead of the Edo governor's race.

Philip Shaibu, impeached deputy governor of Edo State, backs opposition candidate Monday Okpebholo of the APC in the upcoming governorship election, citing the need for a 'homeboy' who understands the people's plight.

Philip Shaibu, the recently impeached Deputy Governor of Edo State, has said that he supports Monday Okpebholo, the opposition candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the state's impending governorship election on September 21.

Shaibu pointed out that at first, Okpebholo, himself, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, LP, were the three local contenders in the governorship race.

“I will support a homeboy. I came into politics to contest as the governor of Edo State because I need the government to return to homeboys - people who understand our plight, people who understand what the people are feeling. Even the United Nations talks about the need for assessment. We don't want outsiders, we have experimented with outsiders and it's not working. So, this time around, we want homeboy," he said.

“Today, I came in as a homeboy. We have only two homeboys in the major political parties in Edo State. One is in labour, and one is in APC, and I choose to follow another homeboy in the APC. The man they are parading in the PDP is an outsider, and we have also agreed that no more godfatherism in Edo. So, the man the PDP is trying to portray in Edo now is the godson of Obaseki and there is no way godsons will now be governor of Edo.”

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The former deputy governor delivered a speech in Saint Paul's Catholic Church in Benin City, the state capital of Edo State, on Father's Day in 2024. He was an altar server for the main mass that day.

Shaibu highlighted that he now backs Okpebholo above the other local contenders after withdrawing from the campaign. He emphasized that Shaibu officially endorsed the APC governorship candidate despite his PDP membership since Governor Godwin Obaseki had said that everyone is allowed to select their favorite candidate in any election.

He emphasized that his support for the opposition candidate does not contradict his party, pointing out that even Governor Obaseki was affiliated with both the PDP and the Labour Party in the previous election.

“The governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki says that everybody has the right to support whoever he wants to support, but he forgot also that he doesn't have the right to stop anybody from whom he wants to support,” he said.

“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.”