Edo 2024: I’m an Ikpe Man from Benin, PDP Can Only Win  if a “Home Boy” Gets The Ticket – Shaibu

By Reporter

Ahead the February 2024 political  party primaries in Edo State towards the  Governorship Election slated for September,  the State Deputy Governor, Rt Hon Comrade Philip Shaibu, has  appealed to would-be delegates  not to allow any one to  bring tribal and religious sentiments into the contest.

He said those insisting  that a particular senatorial zone should be favoured in the forthcoming governorship election do not mean well for the PDP and indeed, Edo State.

Shaibu said this at an interactive session with select journalists in Abuja, weekend.

According to him, “Edo Central can be Governor only if it produces a candidate that has capacity and who is popularly acceptable by the people.

“In all governorship elections, the three  senatorial zones in the State are expected to contest for it.

“Those playing the ethnic card  are bent on dividing us with the sentiments that  it’s the turn of the Esan. We are all from Benin. I am an Ikpe man; we migrated from Ikpe on Sakponba in Benin to settle in Jattu.” 

“Fortunately for me, I am from Ikpe in Jattu. So, if you want to know who I am, I will conveniently say that I am a Benin man. 

“The Esan man will also  tell you that  he is a Benin man because we all trace our ancestral history to Benin. Since we are all from Benin, the three senatorial zones should put forward their best materials and let the best person emerge in a free and fair contest to carry the PDP flag in the election.

“I must say that some of these people have complex. They use religion and ethnicity as convenient tools to sell themselves to the electorate but I am not going to play ethnic or religious politics because these are dangerous elements that are capable of  dividing us as a people.

“For me, Edolites should go for the person who has the capacity, who is more grounded in the activities of our State and who can hit the ground running from day one.

“I have said that  from day one, I will swear in the  Secretary to State Government (SSG), on the same podium where I will be sworn in as Governor. I will also announce my Commissioners with their portfolios the same day and the list sent to the State House of Assembly for consideration.

“So, what I am saying in essence is that I am prepared and ready for the job,” Shaibu added.