Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of earmarking ₦73 million for vote buying in an attempt to secure victory in the just concluded Edo governorship election on Saturday.
Shaibu made this allegation during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, where he outlined the governor’s alleged autocratic behavior and disregard for his political allies.
Describing Obaseki’s attempt to buy votes as the “gamechanger” in their ongoing political rift, he claimed that the governor, who had no significant personal wealth when he first came to power in 2016, now feels emboldened by his financial resources, which he allegedly planned to use to influence elections.
“The gamechanger was Obaseki refusing to share his program and feeling he can be an autocrat, a dictator and wants to enforce. He feels he now has money which he didn’t have in 2016 to use to buy his way through. He feels he can bring 73 million to my ward and make sure he wins my ward. I will show you the print of the amount of money he earmarked to buy votes in my ward and when I saw the document. I laughed. It also pushed a lot of people to transfer their voting unit to my unit and that is why in the state today, I have the highest PVC voters in my unit.
The deputy governor pointed to a mass exodus of key political figures from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as evidence of discontent with Obaseki’s leadership style. According to Shaibu, the governor has alienated his allies by acting like a dictator and failing to engage with those who helped him rise to power.
“We had 10 of us that contested for primaries in PDP and 9 of us, he told us to go to hell. The last time I counted, it was about 618 key leaders that left PDP to APC. The total number of people that resigned from my own side that I have on the list is about 1018 persons to join APC. When you put these numbers together, there was no Obaseki and Asue could win and this election was not just about Asue but about the wickedness of the governor.”
He also described the governor as a loser who refuses to accept electoral defeat and regularly disregards court orders that don’t work in his favour.
He said this while refuting the claims by the PDP that the results posted on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) iREV platform differed from the official declaration.
He praised the election process as one of the most transparent and peaceful in recent times, stating that only one polling unit had issues with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which were quickly resolved.
“I am not INEC but let me tell you one thing that I know. The Obaseki that I have worked with, that I know will never accept defeat and would not accept anything but winning and it has shown in his character. There are 92 court orders that Obaseki has refused to obey but anyone that favours him, is the one he will implement. When an election like this takes place, of course he will not accept it because that is the character that he is; he and Asue. What I know is that I was in my polling unit from morning till night and I voted and the vote counted. The result that was declared in my unit that everybody saw being counted, is the result INEC announced.
“This election is one of the most peaceful and transparent elections that have taken place in recent times. In this election, only one unit had BVAS malfunctioning and which was fixed and throughout the election, it worked and the Nigerian police must also be given kudos.”
He also emphasised that if the PDP’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo decides to go to court to challenge the results of the election, it would only end up as “effort in futility.”
“Asue’s option now is to go to court. As far as what happened in my unit, ward and local government is what he wants to go and challenge, I think it is an effort in Futility. I will also join Mr. President to say that if you feel there are areas where things are not regular, you can go to court. We will be meeting there. I would say everything that happened, using my own area, was free and fair.”
Despite the apparent breakdown in his relationship with Obaseki, Shaibu remained confident about his political future, stating that his battles with the governor are now over.
“It is Ofonee (finished) for Obaseki, but not the end of the era for Shaibu,” he declared.
According to him, his political career, initially planned to culminate in the Senate, took a detour when he was persuaded to join Obaseki’s ticket in 2016.
Reflecting on the challenges of the last 16 months, during which he claims he has not received any financial support from the government, Shaibu said he has handed his future political decisions over to God.
“For the past 16 months, to show how wicked Obaseki is, I have not received one kobo from the government,” he said.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC), declared Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the All-Progressive Congress, the winner of the Edo state governorship election.
Okpebholo won the election with 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), who polled. 247,244 votes.
Chioma Kalu
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