Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu has formally announced his entrance into the race for the 2024 governorship race, thus ending weeks of sustained anxiety on the issue.
In a pre-recorded speech aired , Shaibu, who has been the deputy governor of the state since 2016, said he would run for the office of the number one in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
After his official declaration, Shaibu launched his campaign office in Benin City, the state capital, at an event crowded with party supporters in branded attires and other items.
“After all the consultation we have made, we needed to now make the answer to our consultation known to our people. And the answer is clear: they have asked me to run,” Shaibu said.
The 53-year-old politician said he had put his life on the line for the development and growth of the state, and that he was determined to make the South-South state great again.
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Shaibu, who has been having a running battle with his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, for some time over his political ambition, said though he was persecuted, he was not crushed.
Shaibu is from Edo North Senatorial District, the same district as ex-governor of the state and current lawmaker representing the district in the 10th National Assembly, Adams Oshiomhole.
Both Obaseki and Shaibu were once allies of Oshiomhole, but the political association among them tumbled towards the 2020 governorship election when the ex-labour leader was accused of ‘godfatherism’ which he denied.
Obaseki and Shaibu survived their re-election which had Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was backed by Oshiomhole and other APC heavyweights including ex-governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu.
Shaibu’s declaration came against all odds and in the context of the tension that heightened on Sinday night occasioned by the clash in venue of the declaration and an event in support of Governor Obaseki.
