Philips Shaibu, the reinstated Deputy Governor of Edo State, claimed on Friday that he is already an unofficial member of the All Progressives Congress.
He stated that the only reason he remained in the Peoples Democratic Party was that he had yet to officially leave the ruling party in Edo.
When asked why he was supporting the APC governorship candidate in Edo during an appearance on Arise TV’s morning show on Friday, the deputy governor stated that his spirit had left the PDP.
“In the PDP now, everybody can support whoever they like. On the issue of supporting a candidate, the constitution guarantees that you can support who you like and you can belong to any political party,” Shaibu said.
He added, “As of now, I’m a PDP man, and I will not support anybody while I am in another party, contrary to who I am supporting. For now, I am a member of the PDP but going forward, I am good at being a member of the APC; I can tell you that.”
When told that he (Shaibu) appears to have one leg in APC and one in PDP, he responded, “No, two legs in APC.
“The only thing that is keeping me in the PDP is that I have not officially declared. Talking more seriously, I am actually a member of APC, but on official.
“My spirit has left PDP for a long time; it is only my leg and body that are still there because my PDP party card is still with me and I have not picked an APC party card yet. But in terms of spirit, my spirit has left PDP and is now in APC.”
He further claimed that since the state’s political crisis began, he has called his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, 111 times without the governor answering or returning his calls.
“I had made up my mind not to call him again, but I always send him texts. Before now, when I started counting, I called him (Obaseki) 111 times during that crisis, but he never picked up. I sent him texts, and he never replied, but it never really mattered. The last text I sent to him was on his birthday,” Shaibu said.
Chronicle NG reported that Shaibu was impeached by the State House of Assembly on April 8, 2024.
However, he was reinstated on Wednesday after Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Abuja High Court decided that he had been wrongfully impeached.
Meanwhile, a police officer named Okon, who was assigned to the APC candidate in the September 21 governorship race, Monday Okpebholo, was slain after mobs stormed his and Shaibu’s convoys in Benin on Thursday after they left the Benin airport.
Shaibu and Okpebholo landed at Benin Airport at 2 p.m. to a boisterous greeting from supporters.
