The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has given indications that he and his supporters may have to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for another party.
Although he ruled out a return to the All Progressives Congress (APC) which he and his boss had also dumped earlier before the last governorship election, he did not specify which party he and his supporters would likely move to.
Shaibu gave the hint during an interview on Channels Television, noting that his followers and those of Governor Godwin Obaseki do not feel accepted in the PDP.
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He decried the alleged discrimination within the PDP against members who defected from the APC with Governor Godwin Obaseki during the last election.
In order to secure a second-term ticket, Shaibu and his boss had defected to the PDP after a public falling-out with their erstwhile political godfather and former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
They were re-elected for another four years after winning the 2020 governorship election in the state.
He said, “For me as Philip Shaibu, I have no plans now to leave. But for Philip Shaibu and his followers and the followers of Obaseki, that left APC to the PDP, they all plan to leave PDP, but to where I don’t know,” he said.
Shaibu further stated that he was yet to be accepted completely into the ranks of the PDP.
“We have not been accepted into PDP and for us, we are not telling the governor it is either now or we leave.
“We are in PDP now and expect that we will be integrated. When I say ‘we’, not just Philip Shaibu, I’m talking about Anselm Ojezua (former Edo APC chairman) and the state working committee, the ward chairmen and the executives, the leaders of APC then, and all the well-wishers that left APC because of Obaseki.
READ ALSO: Dep. Gov. Shaibu denies plans to defect from PDP to APC
“We have been meeting and we have said we need to be integrated. Anselm Ojezua resigned his membership as chairman of the state; the ward chairman resigned; other executives resigned to join PDP.
“As I speak, they have not been integrated and we are talking about harmonisation; they have refused to harmonise. For some of us, that means we are not welcome in PDP.
“We are not saying to dismantle, drive everybody and accept us. We are saying create room for Anselm Ojezua and create room for others. Just like we have done in the appointment in government — we’ve created space for the old PDP that we met. They are commissioners”.