The Edo deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, has insisted that he is the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Edo governorship election.
The deputy governor was declared winner of a factional governorship primary election that reportedly held at his residence in Benin City, the state capital, on Thursday.
Asue Ighodalo was also announced winner of another PDP primary exercise which took place at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium.
During an interview on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, Shaibu said the election that produced Ighodalo was marred by irregularities and disregard for the party’s constitution.
“In the coming days, we will know who amongst us is authentic. By the time we give you the breakdown of the people that voted, you would see it was an arranged election for Ighodalo,” he said.
“I, the winner of this election, have already sent my team to reach out to Mr. Ighodalo so he can join me and work together. I am the authentic candidate and as we move on you will realise that.
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“The primary process that produced Ighodalo was faulty. Yesterday, a group of delegates said they won the delegates election held on February 4 and they showed their names but they were rejected.
“We have a serious gap as far as leadership is concerned and that is why we have this confusion. Those delegates insisted that they must have their election and they voted for me.
“Everything that took place yesterday was orgnaised by the state arm of the PDP, and that contradicts our agreement at stakeholders meeting, and it also contradicts our constitution that says it is the national that organises the election.”
Shaibu also said “PDP should be extremely careful with Edo… let us not get to a point where we may not even field a candidate in this election”.
Ighodalo has maintained that the primary election he won was the authentic one because it was monitored by members of the party’s national working committee (NWC) and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Edo governorship poll has been slated for September 21, 2024.
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