In reference to the party's ticket and the Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 2024, Governor Godwin Obaseki stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will decide what happens to his deputy, Philip Shaibu.
Obaseki made the remarks following a private meeting with his Bauchi counterpart, Bala Mohammed, and a former governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel.
Remember Shaibu declared his candidacy for the Edo State governorship election in 2024 on Monday.
But days after the declaration, Obaseki said, “The party will decide and also members of the party will decide who will be the flag bearer of the party in the forthcoming governorship election.
“The relationship as you know, has been cordial. He (Philip) wants to run for the office I currently occupy and he is free to. I think as a Nigerian, he has the constitutional right to run, nobody can or should stop him.”
But when asked if he would support Shaibu, he said, “I’m only one out of millions of our party members in Edo state. I don’t think my vote alone will determine whether he becomes the party’s flag bearer.”
The governor of Edo explained that they were in Bauchi to talk about party politics and national issues.
On the removal of fuel subsidies, which has resulted in an increase in the cost of living, Governor Obaseki urged Nigeria's leaders to be solution providers.
He said, “Nigerians are suffering, and the suffering is unprecedented. But I think we should stop lamenting and think of what to do as leaders to confront the issues we face to reduce the suffering of our people and put more food on the tables.
“The year is coming to an end and the prices of food items are going up what can we, as PDP governors do to ameliorate the sufferings of our people? These are some of the things we came to talk about while preserving the unity of this country.”
