Reinstated Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, said he has put his governorship ambition on hold to back the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Monday Okpebholo, to win the September 21 governorship election in the state.
Shaibu, who accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of frustrating his governorship ambition, said he would try again in the future because he had age on his side.
According to a video clip on Sunday, Shaibu spoke at the weekend at the Afemai World Congress in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
He claimed that Okpebholo would make a better governor than Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, being backed by Obaseki.
In a video clip made available by the organisers of the Afemai World Congress on Sunday, Shaibu, also called on the diaspora to be interested in the politics of Nigeria.
He said, “Elections are coming and I would like you to be interested. You see that I have moved from the PDP back to the APC. I moved to the PDP because of the governor (Obaseki) and I am back in the APC because of the governor.
“I wanted to become the governor and they said they would destroy me if I continued to nurse that ambition. They have done everything but God has kept me alive.
“I was impeached but I knew I would come to this programme as the deputy governor. I have been reinstated and my impeachment was part of intimidation and harassment, which I have gone through. We must begin to look for ways to salvage our country.
“I am supporting the APC candidate because he is a breath of fresh air and he is not contaminated yet. He doesn’t speak too much English. He talks less and does more and he is the first person to break the jinx in Edo Central by winning the Senate seat on the platform APC.
“The same scenario that made him a senator is playing out now. It is obvious that the grace of God is upon him. I have played my card, we are still young. If God says I will be governor, then I will be. I have left my ambition to God and we will make Afemai and Edo State, the land of our dream.”
The acting Chairman of the Edo APC, Jarret Tenebe, also urged the diaspora to be interested in who becomes the next governor of the state.
“I urge our people in diaspora to be interested in who becomes the next governor. If you fail to be interested you will allow idiots to rule you.
“Today, it is impossible to win the election at home without the support of the diaspora. If this programme was open to everybody I am sure most of the political parties would be here to seek your support because this is an election year in the state.
“If we have good people in governance in the state, most of the things that are not going on well will work well.
“I employ you to encourage your people, your children to come back home to join hands with us because as the chairman of the occasion said, we have failed at home and we need the diaspora to help us build our society.”
