Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has taken a jab at Governor Godwin Obaseki following the outcome of the state’s recently concluded governorship election.
Shaibu expressed a sense of vindication after Obaseki’s failure to secure his local government for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while emphasizing that he holds no ill will towards the outgoing governor.
In an interview with Arise TV on Monday, Shaibu reflected on the results of the 2024 governorship election. He claimed that Obaseki had never won an election without his support, asserting that he played a key role in the governor’s previous victories.
Shaibu further noted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) victory validates his position, especially against critics who doubted his ability to win the election.
“I feel vindicated; even the governor couldn’t win his local government. I won my unit, ward, and local government. Where are the governor’s results? He has never won; we always assisted him,” he stated.
He also urged Obaseki to apologise to the people of the state.
He said, “What is left now is for him to go back and start begging and apologizing to the people of Edo State and he has a lot of them that he needs to go and apologize to.”
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the newly elected governor of Edo State.
The governorship race was highly competitive, with Okpebholo facing off against Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP).
Okpebholo emerged victorious with 291,667 votes, surpassing Ighodalo, who secured 247,274 votes. Akpata finished a distant third with 22,763 votes.
Notably, Governor Godwin Obaseki lost his own Oredo Local Government Area to the APC.