Philip Shaibu, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, has asserted that he is the genuine governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
He demanded that the PDP allow him to become the party’s flag bearer, or the party would have no candidate in the upcoming election.
Shaibu and Asue Ighodalo won the parallel PDP primary elections held in Edo State’s capital, Benin City.
He was proclaimed the winner with 300 votes, while Ighodalo received 577 votes in another primary conducted at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
The governorship primary committee, led by Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal, stated that a total of 594 delegates were elected to participate in the primary, with 585 delegates accredited to vote.
Lawal, the Chief Returning Officer for the governorship primary and chairman of the committee primary, announced the final results, stating that Asue Ighodalo received 577 votes while his closest challenger, Philip Shaibu, received one vote.
However, speaking with TVC, the deputy governor said:
“I will not want to go into the rules of processes they didn’t follow because very soon these issues will be too glaring and everybody will see where the mistakes are.
“I can tell you that they didn’t follow the rules and by the grace of God the authentic delegates of the party voted for me, they wanted to disenfranchise them but they were determined to fight for the party and protect its legacy, what we call legacy coalition.
“I’m the candidate of the PDP and you can take it to the bank and come September 2024; I will be the flagbearer and governor of Edo State.
“In the coming days, we will be meeting with the party and other stakeholders and they will see that for them to have a candidate in this election, they must allow Shaibu to remain, unless PDP is not interested in having a candidate which I know they want to have a candidate in this election.”