The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has alleged that Governor Godwin Obaseki brought ₦73 million to his ward to buy votes during Saturday’s governorship election.
Philip Shaibu made the allegation on Monday while speaking in an interview with Arise TV.
He added that Governor Obaseki was responsible for the loss of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
Shaibu said, “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.”
According to him, a total of 618 key members of the PDP joined the APC. He added a total of 1018 of his supporters left with him to the APC.
“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,” Shaibu stated.
He further advised Asue Ighodalo against filing suit in court to challenge the victory of Senator Okpebholo.
He continued, “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.”
He declared that the loss of PDP in the governorship election was an end for Governor Obaseki’s era.
“It is Ofonee (finished) for Obaseki, but not the end of the era for Shaibu,” he stated.