No amount of intimidation, harassment can stop me now—Philip Shaibu

The Edo Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, said on Saturday intimidation and harassment would not stop him from pursuing his political ambition.

The deputy governor stated this when he addressed journalists in Abuja.

Shaibu emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in a parallel primary held on Thursday in Benin City.

The returning officer, Bartholomew Moses, who announced the result of the election held at Commercial Avenue in the state capital, said Shaibu scored 301 votes in the exercise.

“Therefore, I hereby declare Philip Shaibu as the authentic elected candidate for this election in the PDP,” he added.

In another election held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in the state capital, the former chairman of Nigeria Breweries, Asue Ighodalo, defeated nine other candidates, including the deputy governor in the exercise.

READ ALSO: Obaseki anointed candidate, Ighodalo wins Edo PDP governorship primaries

He polled 577 votes to win the PDP ticket for the September 21 election in the state.

At the briefing, Shaibu alleged there was intimidation and harassment of people in the build-up to the primary.

He said: “The level of intimidation and harassment meted out to me and those people who believe in me was beyond comprehension, yet it does not change our resolve in what we believe in.

“People were sacked, some civil servants were suspended, others transferred from their position and taken away from their family comfort to different places, all because they were associating with me.

“Well, I dare say that anybody still intimidating or harassing anybody means that he is not ready to win an election.”

He stressed that his emergence as a candidate was no longer about him but about the people.

He warned that PDP must adhere to the electoral laws and party guidelines to win the election.

The deputy governor also alleged that in the other primary that produced Ighodalo as the PDP candidate, 381 delegates were disenfranchised.

“The electoral law forbids exclusion. An election can be re-ordered because of exclusion, it is a major sin that the law forbids,” Shaibu stated.