Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of Edo, has expressed his elation following the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, in the Saturday, September 21 gubernatorial election.
Speaking after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Okpebholo the winner on Sunday, Shaibu said he has been “over the moon” since the results were announced.
Okpebholo, a serving senator, won the election with 291,667 votes, defeating Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 247,274 votes. Shaibu also took a jab at Governor Godwin Obaseki, pointing out that the governor lost his local government area (LGA), Oredo, to the APC.
Shaibu, who hails from Etsako West LGA, celebrated the APC’s performance in his area, where the party garnered 32,107 votes compared to the PDP’s 17,483. He noted that Adams Oshiomhole, the senator representing Edo North and a key APC figure, is also from Etsako West.
In Oredo LGA, where Obaseki is from, Okpebholo secured 30,780 votes, while Ighodalo received 24,938, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party got 5,389 votes. Shaibu attributed the PDP’s loss in the election to Obaseki’s alleged sidelining of key party members ahead of the polls.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV, he said;
“I really feel vindicated and I thank God for it. I am so excited and I am happy that I am counted among the number of persons that helped APC to regain government house in Edo state. I am so excited.
“Not only that I am excited, I have also cancelled that negative impression and blackmail that has been flying that Philip Shaibu does not win his ward. It’s a lie.
“I have never lost my ward. I have never lost my unit. I have always won it. And in the local government, you can see. So, those that have been blackmailing, they can see.
“Even the governor could not win his local government. I won my unit which is number one now in the state. I won my ward and local government. I took first from my unit to the ward and to the local government.
“Where is the governor’s result? He has never won. We have always assisted him. But unfortunately, he got the power and he started kicking us and removing the ladder.
“It is very unfortunate. I hope he learns his lessons. And what is left for him now is to go back and start begging and apologising to the people of Edo state. He has a lot of them that he needs to apologize to.
“We were 10 (persons) that contested the primary, and out of the 10, he told us to go to hell. The last time I counted, it was 618 key leaders that left PDP for APC.”
Shaibu’s comments come after a turbulent political journey, having been impeached as deputy governor in April 2024 after falling out with Obaseki. However, in July, a federal high court in Abuja nullified his impeachment, ruling that it violated the law. Following the court’s decision, Shaibu defected to the APC.
