A member representing the South-South geopolitical zone on the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Charles Idahosa, said Governor Godwin Obaseki can’t stop his deputy, Philip Shaibu, from succeeding him.
This is coming after a recent peace accord between Obaseki and Shaibu following months of feud over the latter’s ambition to join the 2024 governorship race in the state, with reports claiming his principal favoured another candidate from a different part of the state.
The deputy governor hails from Etsako West in the Edo North zone but Obaseki reportedly planned to hand over power to someone from Edo Central, the zone clamouring to produce the next governor.
The face-off led to the ejection of Shaibu from his office domiciled within the Edo State government house, and relocated to another office where he continues to function to date as his former office remains under lock and key.
For his part, Idahosa believes it’s almost a given that the next stop for the deputy governor was to aspire to a higher position, arguing that the governor had no right whatsoever to stop his deputy from gunning for a higher office.
“I was disappointed when the rift became public. I was also taken aback by some of the comments of the leaders in Edo State. The major problem we have is weak leadership. What we see here is that people are afraid of telling the truth to power,” the PDP leader said on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
“The governor has no right to tell the deputy governor the limit of his political ambition. Obaseki didn’t need to fight Shaibu; the fight was totally uncalled for. What he should have done is sell his candidate to the leaders of the party, who will in turn work for that candidate instead of allowing the issue to degenerate.
“The way deputy governors are being treated in the country, the position will no longer be appealing. After serving as the deputy governor, the next step is to aspire for the position of the governor. So, Shaibu has not done anything wrong,” Idahosa added.
The PDP chieftain, a former political adviser to former Governor Adams Oshiomhole, also canvassed that the next governor of the state should be familiar with the terrain.
He reminded those clamouring for a particular zone to produce the governor that at no point had a zone been given an exclusive right to present the governor.
“When it comes to politics, we need somebody who understands the terrain and who is part and parcel of the people. You don’t go and bring somebody who doesn’t know us. This time, we need somebody who is part and parcel of us,” Idahosa stressed.