Obaseki Insists On Shaibu As Running Mate

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has insisted on his Deputy, Philip Shaibu, as running mate to counter the influence of Adams Oshiomhole, since they are from the same area.our correspondent gathered  this from a source that was at the meeting between Governor Obaseki, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors and other leaders of the party in Abuja.

The source said: “Contrary to insinuations that the Deputy Governor insisted on running with Obaseki, it was actually Obaseki that insisted that Shaibu should run with him. ”He considered the fact that the Deputy Governor hails from the same area as Adams Oshiomhole. “So the Deputy Governor has the capacity to get votes from his area, because he is a grassroots politician.” Recall that Shaibu represented Etsako West in the state House of Assembly, while Oshiomhole is from Iyamho, one of the towns in Etsako West. On the choice of Obaseki as PDP’s flag bearer, the source said: “The governors weighed the financial capacity of PDP aspirants and felt Obaseki would be the best candidate to face the APC onslaught. “That is why the coast is being cleared for him.”

On the possibility of the governor getting a waiver, the spokesperson said: “Until he joins the party, we cannot be discussing that. When he joins the party, we will take it up from there.” The party spokesperson, however, refuted claims that the 2023 presidential elections were discussed at the meeting. He said: “We didn’t even discuss 2023, people should stop peddling rumours. We didn’t discuss 2023, what we discussed was the modality for the Edo primary election and we resolved to postpone the primary till Tuesday, June 23, 2020. That is all.”