Former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has praised Governor Monday Okpebholo for achieving a significant milestone within his first 100 days in office—securing support from the Federal Government, something Shaibu and former Governor Godwin Obaseki failed to do.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Shaibu acknowledged that Okpebholo’s ability to attract federal assistance would free up state resources for additional development projects.
“The clever thing the governor (Okpebholo) has done, which I applaud him for and which we didn’t do, is the ability to go to the centre and woo the centre for support,” Shaibu said.
“And the support coming from the centre will free the state’s resources for other developments. That is what he is cleverly doing, and I think that will help him to develop fast.”
Reflecting on his time in government, Shaibu admitted that while the Obaseki administration had good intentions, political interests eventually got in the way.
“Every government, even our own government, it was clear that we wanted to do good things and everything, but along the line, politics and interests came in,” he said.
He urged Edo residents to support and pray for Okpebholo’s administration, emphasizing that the state’s progress depends on the governor’s success.
“That is why I consistently, without mincing words, each time I say support Okpebholo, I follow it up with ‘please also pray for him,’ so that things that make one change and now become something negative will not happen in his own time.”
Shaibu and Obaseki, once political allies, parted ways in the lead-up to the September 21 governorship election. Shaibu later defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party under which Okpebholo contested and won the election, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
