In a surprising twist in Edo State politics, Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu has been declared the winner of a parallel governorship primary conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
An unidentified man, donned in a yellow T-shirt and black Fez cap, made the announcement amidst applause from the crowd. He said, “After doing the counting of this primary election, Philip Shaibu has a score of 301. Therefore, we hereby declare Mr Shaibu as the authentic elected candidate for this election in PDP.”
The event was captured in a video posted on an undisclosed platform by Arise Television. In the video, Shaibu can be seen embracing supporters and exchanging pleasantries. He was the sole PDP aspirant that the party members voted for at the venue.
Arise TV reported that the official PDP primary, in which Governor Godwin Obaseki and other aspirants are expected to participate, had not commenced at the time Shaibu was declared the winner of the parallel primary.
Shaibu, a former ally of Governor Obaseki, had a falling out with the governor due to his ambition to succeed Obaseki as governor. He is among the nine aspirants who rejected the outcome of the party's ward congress, where delegates to vote for the party's governorship candidate were elected.
Charles Idahosa, a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party, had previously stated that the party in the state would be as “good as dead and buried” if the issues raised by the nine governorship aspirants were not resolved. It remains unclear whether the other eight aspirants who protested the outcome of the delegates' election will also hold separate primary elections.
Some party members in the state believe that Governor Obaseki manipulated the ad-hoc delegates' election in favour of his preferred aspirant, Asue Ighodalo.