Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has been accused of obtaining $300,000 from his Deputy, Mr Philip Shaibu, under the false pretence of settling the cost of procuring the governorship ticket of the PDP in the state following his late and controversial switch to the party in 2020 to seek re-election.
The allegation was made by Chief Dan Orbih, the South-South National Vice Chairman of the party who led the PDP in Edo State for several years and managed Obaseki’s switch in 2020. He made the shocking revelation to some party stakeholders who visited his residence seeking an explanation on the causes of his now sour relationship with the Edo Governor.
According to Orbih, the political negotiations that resulted in Obaseki picking up the PDP’s governorship ticket despite joining the party days before the primary election was premised on a joint sharing of elective positions between the migrant Governor and the ‘legacy’ PDP members.
He also said the Ogbeide Ihama, who was a reps member at the time and had indicated interest in the party’s governorship candidacy before stepping down for Obaseki, was awarded the ticket to represent Edo South senatorial district in the National Assembly, while the other two districts were shared between Obaseki’s faction and the so-called legacy group.
Obaseki’s refusal to honour the terms of the agreement was responsible for the row between his group and that of Orbih who remains locked in a legal battle with the governor after each faction conducted separate primaries to produce candidates for the party in the next general elections.
Orbih also damagingly accused the governor of spreading the falsehood that the legacy group demanded a fee in exchange for awarding him the party’s ticket, and using the same lie to obtain a sum of $300,000 from his deputy and running mate, Philip Shaibu.
In a video that has now gone viral, Orbih said “I confronted the governor in Benin at a meeting with party elders that he was going about telling people he paid for the PDP ticket. I asked him in front of his deputy who had told me that the governor took $300,000 from him as a settlement payment to Ogbeide Ihama for him to step down if he ever gave anyone one kobo for the ticket. We did not sell our ticket; no one took even one kobo from the governor.”
The allegation comes after Obaseki suffered widespread criticism and mockery for staging an elaborate inauguration ceremony for streetlights controlled by amateurish switches held together by duct tape. He has yet to respond to the allegation, even as citizens of the state protest the development, labelling the governor as corrupt and non-transparent.
Recall that Obaseki left the APC for the PDP in 2020 after his disqualification by the former over questionable academic credentials. His arrival at the PDP caused a major tiff within the party, with aspirants, including Ogbeide Ihama, insisting that he could not participate in the party’s primary election given the window for purchasing the expression of interest form had closed.