BY Ebunoluwa Olafusi
Philip Shaibu, Edo deputy governor, has alleged a fresh plot to impeach him.
On Thursday, Shaibu was declared winner of a factional governorship primary election that reportedly held at his residence in Benin City, the state capital.
Asue Ighodalo was also announced winner of another PDP primary exercise which took place at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin.
Speaking in Abuja on Saturday, Shaibu said his team revealed the alleged plot to impeach him over his ambition.
He, however, said he would not be deterred as contesting the Edo governorship election is his constitutional right.
“Even as we speak, my team has been calling me that, ‘Look at what these people are doing. They are saying they are going to impeach you, that you have gotten too far.’ They are threatening to impeach me,” he said.
“And I said, well, if fighting for my rights and all of us collectively fighting for our rights, which is in the constitution, can trigger impeachment, so be it because fighting for my rights and saying I must contest the election is my constitutional rights and cannot be taken by anybody.
“So, if constitutional right is why they will now trigger impeachment, the courts are there, they will interpret it.”
Shaibu added that Ighodalo does not have what it takes to win the September 21 governorship election in the state.
“If the party wants to win the election, they will not go for Ighodalo. If the party wants to win the election, the people have spoken, and they have spoken very loud and clearly,” he said.
“If people can stand bullets to say this is who we want, then the party should follow that direction.”
He added that a coalition called legacy coalition has been formed to encourage collaboration and support among members of the PDP.
He also said he has appointed Kenneth Asekomhe, a former Edo APC deputy chairman, to chair a committee to reach out to Ighodalo’s camp to forge a united front for the PDP in the election.
“He is the chairman of the committee that I have set up to reach out to the Ighodalo group for us to have a discussion to see how we will go because it is only him that is not on board,” Shaibu said.
“The leader of the legacy coalition is Dan Orbih. We are working together and that is why it is important that Ighodalo join the legacy coalition because the coalition is those that were in APC that moved to PDP to meet those that were already in PDP.
“Those that were in PDP that we met are the legacy. The coalition now is that we joined the old PDP moving together because we don’t want to hear new and old PDP and that is why we call it a legacy coalition.”
RIFT BETWEEN SHAIBU AND OBASEKI
For some time, there has been a rift between Shaibu and Godwin Obaseki, Edo governor.
On July 28, Shaibu approached a federal high court in Abuja with a suit to prevent an alleged impeachment plot against him.
Shaibu asked the court to restrain Obaseki, the speaker of the state assembly, and the chief judge, from “initiating impeachment proceedings or sanctioning any impeachment” against him.
On August 4, the court restrained Obaseki, the speaker, and other parties in the suit from initiating impeachment moves against Shaibu.
Reacting to the suit, Obaseki alleged that Shaibu wanted to kick him out of office ‘because of his desperation to succeed him’.
He also said there was no plan to impeach Shaibu.
On September 5, Shaibu withdrew the suit he filed against Obaseki.
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