Edo State governor Godwin Obaseki said he couldn’t trust his former deputy Philip Shaibu with affairs of the State hence his reluctance to support his ambition to be the next governor.
Obaseki and Shaibu, two strong political allies, had a fallout after Shaibu launched his ambition to run for governorship in the elections billed for September 21, 2024. Blinded by his ambition perhaps, Shaibu conducted a parallel primary election, which declared him as a candidate, but the party rejected his candidacy. This led to Shaibu’s impeachment from office two weeks ago.
“For me, I did not understand where the ambition was coming from because it was clear that the odds were not in his favor in terms of succeeding me, and I made it very clear,” Obaseki said during a conversation on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“So, I could not take any risk on his ambition because I have to protect the Edo people. So, I could not take that risk on Edo people.”
Meanwhile a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed two separate suits seeking to disqualify Asue Ighodalo as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the Edo 2024 governorship election.
The plaintiffs had challenged the primary election that produced Ighodalo as the PDP’s governorship candidate for the Edo governorship election.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, while delivering judgments in the matters, held that the plaintiffs lacked locus standi (legal right) to institute the action.
The first suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/195/2024, was filed by Adizetu Umoru, the second suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/196/2024, was filed by Moses Alabi and Christopher Oboarer.
The plaintiffs had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), PDP, Umar Damagu (acting national chairman), Setonji Koshoedo, PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC), and its National Executive Committee (NEC) as 1st to 6th defendants respectively.
