Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu has hinted that his embattled principal, Godwin Obaseki is intimidating him.
Shaibu, while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday, said he would have appreciated an intimate conversation with the governor on his preferred successor instead of resorting to intimidation.
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His words:
“He (Obaseki) said I am the type of deputy governor any governor will wish to have. So, what has changed? What has changed simply is that I want to be the governor of Edo State,”
“Possibly, maybe he (Obaseki) wants somebody else. In a situation like that, what you do is not intimidation, it is not harassment; you call a family together, you call all of us (aspirants) together and give us reasons why you feel certain things should be. Tell us what you want. You don’t intimidate, you don’t harass.”
Shaibu also decried the inability of Obaseki’s supporters to distinguish between loyalty and constitutional rights, adding that it was his constitutional right to run for office.
According to him:
It’s my cross I am carrying and that is why I have refused. I don’t need to fight. I am loyal to the governor; it’s not disputed but my right to contest is mine. Loyalty is given and it is fully given even with the humiliations and everything I am still loyal but when it comes to contest, it is my constitutional right,” he said.
Shaibu also pledged his undiluted loyalty to his boss and Governor, Obaseki.
“I have no problem but I beg the governor, the governor should know he is the leader, he must be able to organise all of us, he must not love one more than the other. If he must do so, he must humiliate one,” Shaibu said, adding that he has been “praying that this whole relationship thing comes to normal”.
The deputy Governor also hinted his plans to officially apologize to former Governor of the state and his estranged godfather, Adams Oshiomole.
Adding that while he didn’t regret supporting Obaseki, he would apologize for using some words against Oshiomole during the elections.
