Former Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu
Immediate past deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, bares his mind to ADEYINKA ADEDIPE, on his impeachment, and his next move ahead of the forthcoming governorship election, among other issues
When you accepted to be Governor Godwin Obaseki’s running mate, did you envisage that things could end this way?
I envisaged that things would end this way and that things were not going to be fine. That was why I was the last person within our group to accept Obaseki when Comrade Adams Oshiomhole put him forward. Out of respect for Oshiomhole, I accepted. We were also told that he was coming in with private-sector ideas and that there was likely going to be a recession which we would need Obaseki to help us battle. But I warned that this man was going to destroy the house, and it eventually happened.
When I was nominated to be Obaseki’s running mate, I was not interested but people in our team like Chris Okaeben, Washington Osifo, Larry Aghedo, Andrew Momodu, and Abbas Braimoh and other young people came to talk to me to accept the offer. They said if I refused the offer, we (the young people) would not have a representative in the government. I accepted reluctantly but I told them that I see a fight in the future. The first year was full of tension but Comrade (Oshiomhole) and his former deputy, Pius Odubu, told me that the government had just started and that I had no choice. Comrade told me I had to be loyal to the governor and that I was at his mercy. That was when I knew something would go wrong.
How did you think you could navigate the impending problem you predicted?
First, I told my wife that we were not going to live in the Government House but in our private residence so that when there was a fight, I wouldn’t be told to pack my things out of the Government House because it would be disgraceful. She asked me why I felt that way, and I told her I had a premonition that all would not be well. My wife said we should pray about it, but seven years later, what I predicted happened. Imagine looking for vehicles to pack our belongings out of the Government House. My office was relocated out of the Government House which was the only thing connecting the governor and me. I am happy that my office was only relocated out of the Government House.
Your alliance with the Legacy Group looks strong. Are you hoping to join another party soon?
First, I am not ready to support the governorship candidate of the party, Asue Ighodalo, and until the PDP does the needful, I may not be able to answer the question. I cannot support him because he didn’t open up to me about his ambition despite asking him several times, including at my house. The last time I asked was in November. So, I was taken aback when he spoke on TV that he was being pushed to run.
I called him and asked who was pushing him to run, but he told me to ignore the report and that it was a social media thing. But his younger brother, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, said that the move to make his elder brother the governor of Edo State started two years ago. Edo State needs a “homeboy” to govern them, not people who will rent houses during their tenure and leave as soon as it ends. We need people who we can relate to and understand the challenges of the people. The PDP governorship candidate is more of an Ibadan man than an Edo man.
Have you forgiven the governor who you say is instrumental to your impeachment?
I have forgiven him. I thank God for the grace he has given me to be alive. The way I am is the way my heart is. I am plain, genuine and I don’t keep anything in my heart. That’s why I am always in good health because I don’t keep malice. I don’t have space for negativity and the Bible says the heart of men is desperately wicked. So, I know that there are principalities you need to fight in this world. So, when I meet the likes of Obaseki and Ighodalo, I don’t allow their ways to affect me.
I have adjusted to the kind of people that they are. So, whatever they do does not hit me hard. As regards forgiveness, the Lord’s Prayer is clear about that. It said we should forgive those who trespass against us. I have done that. So, I can also be forgiven of my sins because I am not a saint. Honourable Kabiru Adjoto and I are now back together after falling out over some issues. His group is the one who started the whole thing that led to my removal from office. I have forgiven him and some other people, and the only way I can see salvation is to do what is right.
What’s your take on activists who get into political positions, abandon the people and enrich themselves?
For me, that should not be the purpose of coming into politics. I am in politics to affect people positively, lift them from poverty to wealth, take them from where they are to where they want to be, and create an enabling environment for them to thrive and an egalitarian society. I am a political activist and I have refused to change. People know that I am consistent, and this has brought me into conflict with those who feel I should have done things differently. I have always said no to godfatherism in politics and that is why the activism in me comes up when I see people engaging in this thing. Obaseki who fought godfatherism together with us has now brought Ighodalo as his godson.
I am ready. I have also consistently apologised to Comrade, and I am using this avenue to do so again over what happened in 2020, especially the language I used during that period. I look at some of the videos and the only thing I can do is apologise. However, I don’t regret the action I took because Oshiomhole is the one who led us to fight against godfathers. I felt what he was trying to do at that time was wrong. Reuniting with him will be interesting. Even amid the fight, I have maintained that he is my father. I will reunite with him sooner or later. He is also my mentor. So, a lot of things that I do, I learnt from him.
Can you throw more light on the issue of godfatherism, and can you say Oshiomhole is your godfather?
Godfatherism, to me, is for a man to dictate to a multitude without seeking their opinion just like the governor did. As the governor, you can get your wish done not by imposition but by lobbying, which is common in America, where we even have professional lobbyists. Oshiomhole lobbied to make Obaseki the candidate of the All Progressives Congress. Despite saying no to Oshiomhole initially, we succumbed, and we all worked for Obaseki in 2016. Some of us even had to go against Oshiomhole to work for Obaseki’s second term.
So, we want a leadership that can galvanise everyone to work towards a certain goal and not a leadership that will bully us to accept a certain candidate. Ten of us bought forms for the PDP primaries and nine of us are still united to say no to Ighodalo. In the APC, those who lost out in the primaries are united behind the party candidate, Monday Okpebholo, which shows that there is a leadership that can galvanise, pacify and unite everybody. In the PDP, we have emperors, as against leaders making decisions, and if this is not checked, the PDP will go into oblivion in the state.
How strong is your alliance with the Legacy group headed by Dan Orbih, and will it stand the test of time?
The alliance is already standing the test of time. If by now, they have not been able to break us, it means that a leadership vacuum has been created on the other side. We have been sending a message to the national body of the party that if they want the PDP to stand in Edo State, they better come and take back the leadership; the governor does not understand politics but using intimidation. The local government chairmen are being harassed to support Ighodalo with campaign vehicles since mine will not be available. I will advise the LG chairmen to be careful because the EFCC is watching.
Will it not be better to leave the party instead of working against it as the election draws near?
A lot of people are angry because of what they did to me. In Owan East in Edo North, my supporters told me last week that they could no longer wait, and I told them to take any step they deemed okay. We are asking people to hold on, but they keep moving to other parties daily. Others say they have no faith in the leadership of the party, that they have been maltreated, and that we all need to leave. When I asked them where they wanted us to move to, they said the APC. I am a team player and if my team says we can no longer stay, I will follow them. I said previously that we escorted the governor to the PDP. It is the treatment that we get that will determine whether we will stay in the PDP or go back to where we are coming from. I am principled and will not work against the candidate if I am still in the PDP. So, if I am not going to work for Ighodalo, that means I will have to leave.
Should this be taken as a hint that you are moving back to the APC?
If the team comprising the Legacy Group and my original groups say we have to move to the APC, we will not hesitate. There is a problem for the PDP considering the heavyweight who may likely leave the party. Some have never left the PDP since the creation of the party, but they have told me that they are ready to go wherever I go. I told them we should see if the issues can be resolved but they said they couldn’t see a solution in sight.
They are calling people who are leaving the party to come back and threatening local government chairmen not to allow members to defect to other parties. The LG bosses are now begging party members not to leave but it is too late to beg. They act like they are the only ones who have wisdom, forgetting that God gave everyone talent and it is by putting our talents together that we can thrive.
Were delegates who you claimed were not allowed to vote in the PDP primary election part of the list of voters?
Yes, they were part of the delegate, and I can tell you that 381 of the authentic delegates were my supporters and they were elected at the ward congress, but they blocked them from getting accredited on the day of the primary and their tags given to their cronies. They used vigilantes to barricade everywhere. That is why the issue of state police should be looked at critically. The accreditation committee in their report attested to the fact that they saw bulk accreditation being taken away and given to other people.
These 381 delegates who were my people came together to conduct another primary and they have sworn an affidavit to say they were not allowed into the stadium and that they went somewhere else to vote. If you subtract 381 from the 527 they claimed he (Ighodalo) got, you find out that Ighodalo lost the primaries. I won the election because 301 delegates voted at the primaries conducted by the authentic delegates. What happened was that they failed to get these people on their side; that’s why they prevented them from gaining access to the stadium. I was smarter than them because I was able to get them accommodated and when they got wind of this, they prevented them from getting accredited.
Why have you refused to release the vehicles they said are in your possession?
The vehicles they are referring to are the two Prado SUVs used by Lucky Imasuen as the deputy governor. The other Hilux was the one (Dr Pius) Odubu’s wife used, and the Land Cruiser was the one Odubu used. I took all those vehicles to the mechanic who changed their engine and refurbished them. Those are the vehicles that they are telling me to return. So, you can see how heartless men can be. I got only one new vehicle in almost eight years that I served as the deputy governor of the state.