Ahead of the September 22 governorship election in Edo State, the deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, says he is confident of clinching the Peoples Democratic Party ticket.
Shaibu and his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, have been at loggerheads over the former’s ambition to succeed the latter whose second term tenure is winding down.
Already, the PDP has fixed February 3 for the conduct of its primary election where a flagbearer will emerge for the general election. Despite their differences, Shaibu, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday said Obaseki will support him.
“I can bet you that Mr Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo State, my boss and senior brother will support me,” he said.
“He has said it at the secretariat where we had our stakeholders meeting that whoever wins, he will support and whoever that will win is nobody but Philip Shaibu.”
Ahead of the PDP primary election, the deputy governor will contend with a lot of aspirants under the party’s platform. It is however the delegates that will determine who will fly the PDP flag in the September poll.
One of the aspirants is Asue Ighodalo, a Lagos-based lawyer and former chairman of Sterling Bank, who is believed to be Obaseki‘s preferred choice. Ighodalo hails from Ewohimi in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo Central District, an area that Governor Obaseki wants power to shift to.
