Philip Shaibu, kneeling, and Oshoomhole

By Jethro Ibileke 

The reinstated deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu and some members of the Legacy Group of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday formally defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

They defected at the inauguration of the national campaign council of the party for the 21 September governorship election in the State.

Other notable members of the Group who also defected include Barr. Nosa Adams, Martin Osakue, Prince Austin Eweka, Frank Okiye and Felix Akhabue.

The national secretary of the party, Mr Tajudeen Ajibola Bashiru received the deflectors and said with the calibre of the deflectors, APC will win every ward in the state during the governorship election.

They are no longer visitors, but landlords and landladies in the party.

Commenting on the Federal High Court judgement that reinstated Philip Shaibu as deputy governor of Edo, the PDP national secretary said:

“Anyone saying Shaibu is not the Deputy Governor of Edo state is acting in contempt of court judgement and due course, will go to jail.”

In his speech, the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje,

Ganduje, who inaugurated the campaign council, said the defection of Philip Shaibu and others has already given 30 per cent of the Edo government into the APC.

He urged members of the national campaign council to swing into action to ensure that all wards and units in Edo come out to campaign.

Ganduje disclosed that the party’s candidate and his running mate have already developed a blueprint with which they will develop the state and connect the state to the government at the centre.

In his speech, the governorship candidate of the party, Senator Monday Okpebholo, said Edo State has never been divided as it is today.

Okpebholo castigated Governor Godwin Obaseki for raising the state debt from about ₦43 billion when he took over to over ₦500 billion today.

“We are here to change it, we are coming to restore infrastructure, to restore education and to restore security to the state. We are bringing practical governance into the state,” he vowed.

The State chairman of APC, Emperor Jarret Tenebe, while speaking, urged the national chairman of the party to join them to rescue the state from the grip of the PDP.

Earlier while spending, the Senator representing Edo North and former governor of Edo, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, said the gathering represented the very essence of the broom, a reunion of the people who were deceived in their former party.

He noted that the party’s candidate, Monday Okpebholo has a huge tax ahead of him as governor of Edo.

He asked the people of Edo to make a comparison of the years of the rule of the APC and the PDP in the state and see the difference.

“Edo people have the chance to sit back and ask themselves the differences in the years the APC ruled the state and the years the PDP ruled.

“Governance is about having human empathy. Those who do not know your house cannot fix the lickages, only those who know the lickages can help fix them.

If they can cheat themselves and go to court, we will not allow them to cheat [at the polls]. It will be one-man-one-vote,” he said.

Commenting on the killing of Inspector Akor Onu, the police orderly of Senator Okpebholo, Oshiomhole vowed to ensure that the national assembly investigate the death and that the investigation will not be messed up.

He urged Senator Okpebholo to disband the State Security Network if he becomes the state Governor.

Oshiomhole also charged the state Commissioner of Police, Folusho Adegboye, “to defend the integrity of his uniform.”

According to him, “The days of oppression are over. They shall know no peace because they have murdered sleep,” he said.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the National Campaign Council and Governor of Cross Rivers, Bassey Otu, promised to deliver the state for the APC, come September 21.