Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr Philip Shaibu, says intimidation and harassment will not change his resolve in the pursuit of his political ambition Of becoming the next Governor of the state.
Shaibu said this while addressing newsmen in Abuja on Saturday.
On Thursday, the returning officer in the PDP governorship primary and Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, announced Asue Ighodalo as the winner of the delegate election, having polled a total of 577 votes.
However, in the parallel primaries that took place at the Benin residence of the Deputy Governor, the returning officer, Bartholomew Moses, declared Shaibu the winner, saying he won “with over 300 votes.”
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Shaibu described himself as the authentic candidate, noting that the primary that produced Ighodalo was nothing short of a social party attended by “people who wore aso ebi from all over the place.”
He said if the party truly desired to win the election on September 21, it would field a popular and competent candidate not impose a candidate on the people.
He alleged so much intimidation and harassment of people in the build up to the primary.
“The level of intimidation and harassment meted out to me and those people who believe in me was beyond comprehension, yet it does not actually change our resolve in what we believe in.
“People were sacked, some civil servants were suspended, others transferred from their positions and taken away from their family comfort to different places, all because they were associating with me.
“Well, I dare say that anybody still intimidating or harassing anybody means that he is not ready to win an election“, he told newsmen.
He, therefore, said that his emergence as a candidate was no longer about him but the people, adding that it was imperative the party listened to the voice of the people.
He also said that the PDP must adhere to the electoral laws and party guidelines to be able to win the upcoming election in the state.
He explained that there were party guidelines for electing a governorship candidate, just as there is an electoral law guiding political activities.
Shaibu further said for the PDP to win the upcoming governorship election in the state, it should adhere strictly to its own rules and guidelines.
According to him, the primary that produced Asue Ighodalo as its candidate disenfranchised 381 delegates.
“The electoral law forbids exclusion. An election can be re-ordered because of exclusion, it is a major sin that the law forbids“, he told newsmen.
He said though political parties have the right to produce candidates, such rights must comply with the electoral laws and the party’s own guidelines.
“If the guideline is not followed in the process of producing your candidate, that candidate cannot see the light of day.
“So the ultimate right of any party is to follow your rules in producing your candidate”, Shaibu said.
He said, “Even as we speak, my team has been calling me that, ‘Look at what these people are doing. They are saying they are going to impeach you, that you have gotten too far.’ They are threatening to impeach me.
“And I said, well, if fighting for my rights and all of us collectively triggers my impeachment, so be it.”
Shaibu, who described Ighodalo as “my far elder brother,” however, urged the PDP to know that the lawyer-turned-politician does not have what it takes to win the poll.
“If the party wants to win the election, they will not go for Ighodalo. If the party wants to win the election, the people have spoken, and they have spoken very loud and clearly.
“If people can stand bullets to say this is who we want, then the party should follow that direction,” he added.
The deputy governor also said that he has appointed former APC Deputy Chairman, Edo State Chapter, Pastor Kenneth Asekomhe, to chair a committee to reach out to Ighodalo’s camp to forge a common front for the PDP in the election.
“He is the chairman of the committee that I have set up to reach out to the Ighodalo group for us to have a discussion to see how we will go because it is only him that is not on board,” he further said.
Shaibu also said he is working with the National Vice Chairman (South-South), Mr Dan Orbih.
“The leader of the legacy coalition is Dan Orbih. We are working together and that is why it is important that Asue (Ighodalo) join the legacy coalition because the coalition is those that were in APC that moved to PDP to meet those that were already in PDP.
“Those that were in PDP that we met are the legacy. The coalition now is that we joined the old PDP moving together because we don’t want to hear new and old PDP and that is why we call it a legacy coalition,” Shaibu stated.
On whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monitored the primary election that produced him, Shaibu spoke affirmatively without going into details.
“INEC and the party were there but I will not disclose a lot. If we don’t go to court, fine. But if we do go to court, all this information will be unveiled,” he threatened.
