Deputy Governor of Edo State and factional gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming election in the state, Phillip Shaibu, has warned the party to stick with him or face the prospect of losing the September exercise.
He asserted in a chat with newsmen in Abuja on Saturday that he is the authentic candidate of the PDP, noting that the primary conducted by the party which returned Asue Ighodalo as the party flag bearer was a mere charade.
Noting that the one vote allocated to him at the primary was an improbable figure given his clout as an established politician, Shaibu called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP to support his candidacy.
The factional gubernatorial candidate said: “I’m aware that they had another primary and in the coming days you will know who is authentic and who is not authentic because even from the results that they declare, it’s laughable.
“A deputy governor that was NANS President that was two-time majority leader, eight years in the House of Assembly, a Deputy Governor that was House of Rep, that was pulled back because of his political strength to compliment a ticket that would have failed without a politician that is known and accepted is now getting one vote. Somebody that is not known at all is not getting 577 votes.
“It tells you where the results were written, and if you check what they did, it was more like a celebration of either wedding reception or burial reception. You see the primaries where every local government had an aseo-ebi, it tells you, it speaks volume, check what they did. Every local government has its own uniform and that is the primaries.
“It shows that there was no contestation, that is what they did shows, there was no contestation because if there was contestation, you don’t have local government by local government wearing the same attire. It shows that it was more like a party, what the Yoruba popularly called ‘owambe.’
“In the coming days, I don’t want to go into details of certain things that we will be meeting in court because some of these things are not something I should speak to. But as we move on, things will keep on unfolding and you’ll get the nitty-gritty at the end of the day. So that is where we are today.
“And I am appealing to the PDP National Working Committee that if they want to win Edo state, they should just abide by what has happened. They should just support my candidacy and PDP will win Edo state.”
The deputy governor signaled that he is prepared to abide by the wish of the party if tallies with the wish of the people, saying that his participation in the exercise is not about his personal ambition.
He lamented the intimidation and harassment that he said had been directed at him and his supporters, saying that what is needed to win the governorship election is not such attitude but building a consensus.
He explained: “If the party wants to win the election, they will not go for Asue. If the party wants to win the election, the people have spoken and they have spoken very loud and clear.
“If people can stand bullets to say this is who we want, then the party should follow that direction.
“If the party now decides that it’s not the will of the people that will prevail, they now want Asue to be, I will go back to the same people to confirm if what the party has said they are in tune with it.
“If they are in tune with it, I am a team player. It’s not about me, it’s about the people. If they say, look, I think the party has, we have tried our best and the party is insisting, we supported you, please, let’s obey the party, let’s go to the party’s direction, I am game.
“But the truth is that with the level of intimidation and harassment that have been meted on those people, not just me alone, people have been sacked, people have been fired, some civil servants have been suspended, some have been transferred from their present position and has been transferred and taken out of their family comfort to different places, all in the name of associating with me.
“So, those people that have been transferred, suspended, sacked, what happened to them? So, this thing is no longer about me.
“See, the level of intimidation and harassment that took place prior to this primary has never been the type of politics we are played in Edo.”
Also noting that he has set up a committee to reach out to other aspirants, he called on the national leadership of the PDP to bring all of them together in the interest of the party.
He said he has no ill-feeling towards Ighodalo but added that the people of Edo State want someone they already know as their governorship candidate and not an outsider that will require a lot of introduction to the electorate.
“So, gentlemen, I pray that PDP really wants to win Edo and If they want to win Edo, it’s not by intimidation and harassment. I think this is the time the leadership of the party should come together to bring all of us together to work together. If that is not done, I am afraid that PDP will have serious stress in the coming election,” he said.
He urged the PDP not to go to court to challenge his emergence but expressed his readiness for a legal tussle if the need arises as he noted that those who voted for him at the primary election are the authentic delegates.
“INEC and the party, they were there and I will not disclose a lot, like I said I won’t disclose a lot. If we don’t go to court, fine. But if we do go to court, all this information will be unveiled.
“And I pray and that is why I am appealing to the party, to just agree with the authentic. If you go to the secretariat, you will find those delegates on the wall of the secretariat. There are 381 of them,” Shaibu declared.