Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, expressed that despite the political differences and tensions that arose during the 2020 governorship election, former Governor Adams Oshiomhole remains like a father to him.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Tuesday, Shaibu mentioned his intention to extend an apology to Oshiomhole for certain inappropriate remarks made during the last governorship election in the state.
Shaibu clarified that his discord with Governor Godwin Obaseki originated when he congratulated Oshiomhole on his 2023 senatorial election victory. Both Shaibu and Obaseki were once allies of Oshiomhole, but their political affiliations strained in the lead-up to the 2020 governorship election due to allegations of ‘godfatherism’ against Oshiomhole, which he denied.
While officially declaring his candidacy for the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Shaibu emphasized that, despite being in different political parties, he and Oshiomhole now share a cordial relationship. He expressed regret for some of the words he used against the senator during the last poll.
“My relationship with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is cordial. When I mean cordial, he is still my father. Political, we are in different political parties,” the PDP governorship aspirant said.
“I am happy that the governor (Obaseki) has started inviting the former governor (Oshiomhole) and my father to political functions. That is what I have been praying for.
“And now that he has started, I think that the next step is for me to reach him and also first apologise to him (Oshiomhole) for some use of words during the election but in terms of principle of supporting Obaseki, I will still support Obaseki because God told me that is the right thing to do.
“One of the crises that I had was when I went to the Senate to congratulate Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and I was seen in a viral video. That was where my headache started because the governor’s style is that a friend of the governor, you must be friend to him, and an enemy to the governor, you must be enemy to him. I understand that principle and I am being careful.
“What I was waiting for was for the governor to make that move because I will not make that move if the governor had not made the move. Now that he has made the move to be inviting Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, I am emboldened to go and see him,” Shaibu said.