Shaibu Declares Intention to Contest Edo Governorship Election

By Bliss Okperan

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr Philip Shaibu, has announced his interest in the governorship election slated for 2024.

Mr Shaibu, who fell out with former Governor Adams Oshiomhole to pitch his tenth with Governor Godwin Obaseki, declared his interest in the number one office of the state on Monday.

In a televised announcement, the former student union leader said he intends to govern the state because of his desire to transform the Heartbeat of the Nation.

According to him, his past records will make it easy for him to clinch the sole ticket of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming primary election of the party.

Recall that a few months ago, Mr Shaibu fell out with Mr Obaseki after it emerged that he was nursing the ambition to take over from his boss next year.

It was said that his emergence as the Governor of Edo State could distort the political arrangement of the power-sharing formula in the state.

The immediate past Governor of the state, Mr Oshiomhole, who is currently serving as a Senator in the National Assembly, hails from Edo North, and the incumbent is from the South.

According to the political arrangement, it is the turn of Edo Central comprising the Esan tribe to produce the next governor. If the Deputy Governor has his way, it would scheme the region from the calculations.

Business Post gathered that Mr Obaseki received massive votes from Edo Central for his second term election because it was calculated that they would be the next to produce the governor of the state instead of voting for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the exercise, Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu of Edo South.

It is believed that Mr Shaibu’s declaration this morning goes against his boss, who wants him to drop his gubernatorial ambition.