Philip Shaibu, Edo State’s Deputy Governor, has made allegations against Governor Godwin Obaseki, claiming he earmarked ₦73 million for vote buying in the recent governorship election.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS, Shaibu described Obaseki’s actions as a “game-changer” in their ongoing political rift.
Shaibu alleged that Obaseki, who had limited personal wealth when he first took office in 2016, now feels emboldened by his financial resources and plans to use them to influence elections.
He claimed the governor allocated ₦73 million to buy votes in his ward alone.
“The game-changer was Obaseki refusing to share his program and feeling he can be an autocrat, a dictator, and wants to enforce,” Shaibu stated. “He feels he now has money, which he didn’t have in 2016, to use to buy his way through.”
Shaibu pointed to the mass departure of key political figures from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as evidence of discontent with Obaseki’s leadership style. He claimed that 618 key leaders left the PDP for the APC, and 1018 persons from his side resigned to join the APC.
“We had 10 of us that contested for primaries in PDP, and 9 of us, he told us to go to hell,” Shaibu said. “When you put these numbers together, there was no way Obaseki and Asue could win this election.”
Shaibu described Obaseki as a loser who refuses to accept electoral defeat and regularly disregards court orders that don’t favor him. He praised the election process as one of the most transparent and peaceful in recent times.
“I am not INEC, but let me tell you one thing that I know,” Shaibu said. “The Obaseki that I have worked with, that I know, will never accept defeat and would not accept anything but winning.”
Shaibu expressed confidence that if the PDP’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, decides to challenge the election results in court, it would be an “effort in futility.”
“Asue’s option now is to go to court,” Shaibu said. “As far as what happened in my unit, ward, and local government is what he wants to go and challenge, I think it is an effort in futility.”
“For the past 16 months, to show how wicked Obaseki is, I have not received one kobo from the government,” Shaibu said.
“It is Ofonee (finished) for Obaseki, but not the end of the era for Shaibu,” he declared.
Despite the apparent breakdown in his relationship with Obaseki, Shaibu remains confident about his political future. He stated that his battles with the governor are now over.
