Omobayo Godwins, Edo State’s new Deputy Governor, claims he switched from the Labour Party (LP) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because the party promised a brighter political future for him.
The 37-year-old, who was sworn in on Monday after the state assembly impeached Philip Shaibu as Edo deputy governor, spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
According to Godwins, he left the Labour Party to support Asue Ighodalo, the PDP’s governorship candidate in the Edo governorship election on September 21.
The new deputy governor was unambiguous that his becoming deputy governor, months to the expiration of the eight-year tenure of Governor Godwin Obaseki, was part of the political permutations for Ighodalo to defeat his closest contenders like LP’s Olumide Akpata and Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Godwins boasted that he has grassroot support from his base in Akoko Edo, one of the local governments in the Edo North Senatorial District to boost the chances of Ighodalo, who hails from Ewohimi in the Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo Central Senatorial District.
Godwins said the Labour Party has changed entirely from what it used to be during the 2023 polls when he was lost the poll for the Federal House of Representatives seat for the Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency. He cited irreconcilable differences and squabbles among the party’s members as some of his reasons.
Meanwhile, Shaibu has rejected his impeachment by the lawmakers, saying it was a threat to democracy.
Shaibu was Obaseki’s deputy from November 12, 2016 till April 8, 2024 when he was unceremoniously removed following a protracted rift between the two former political allies.