Ahead of the Edo 2024 Governorship Election, the state deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu will on Monday November 27, 2023 officially declare his intention to seek the ticket of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming primary of the main opposition party.
According to a letter of invitation, all is now certainly set for the epoch making event which will hold in the Edo State capital of Benin and feature top PDP politicians from across the 18 local government areas of the state and even beyond.
Shaibu dropped hint of his intention to run in the 2024 election when he spoke recently with journalists in Abuja, maintaining that Edo people are in dire need of practical governance and cannot afford to experiment again with someone who does not understand the politics and needs of Edo State.
The deputy governor added: “Everywhere, including the international scene, people are clamouring that governments should not be pushing projects that are not needed. So, we need to do needs assessment. You cannot know the needs of the people when you don’t live with them.
"For me, competence and experience should be the watchword. Who is competent, more experienced and who will hit the ground running from day one if he becomes governor? Are we going to experiment with a new person again and the person will spend the first four years learning on the job and the next four years trying to embezzle and set up businesses in the name of consolidating on his first term?”
The source disclosed that the grand ceremony is a clear demonstration of the deputy governor's determination to contest the primary and grab the party's ticket in the primary which is scheduled for next February.
The source who would not want his name in print explained that having setting up structures through out the 192 wards and 18 local government areas in Edo, met the owners of the party and rented a campaign office along Airport Road, Benin, the stage is now set for Comrade Shaibu to finally take the leap of faith.
He said that the deputy governor has since patched up with Governor Godwin Obaseki, adding that the amity between the two which almost turned to enmity, in the wake of the former decision to run in the 2024 election, has since returned to cordiality.
He said: "The deputy governor has dotted all his i's and crossed all his t's. He has held series of meetings with PDP political leaders across the three senatorial districts and met ordinary Edo people. Tomorrow, November 27, the deputy governor, will by the Grace of God, formally made his intentions to run for the governorship election known. He'll address Edo people and tell them why he wants to run."
In line with the old adage which holds that all politics are local, the governorship ambition of Comrade Shaibu got a big boost on November 15 from his kinsmen in Ward 11, Jattu, Etsako West Local Government Area, when they unanimously called on him to to run for the primary.
Speaking during a carnival like reception for him at the Ward 11 meeting of PDP, presided over by the chairman, Mr. Igbafe Agbonoga, he hinged the decision on the deputy governor's level of acceptability among his people, party members and the entire populace.
The ward chairman maintained that the show of genuine love by the excited party leaders was a pointer to the fact that the PDP governorship primaries will be more of a referendum on the deputy governor who has a master plan of practical governance for all-round development of Edo State.
He was unequivocal: "We have agreed that Philip Shaibu must run for 2024 Governorship Election. We know he will make a huge difference, if elected as the next governor of our dear state. Our decision is based on the ideology of the deputy governor's practicality in governance during his tenure as a member of Edo State House of Assembly and National Assembly respectively, which focused on paradigm shift in governance."