Former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Phillip Shaibu, has expressed his vindication following a Federal High Court ruling that invalidated the state’s governorship primary election.
Reacting on Thursday to the judgment delivered by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo, Shaibu argued that the PDP’s so-called primary election on February 22, 2024, was nothing more than a “tea party” without legal standing.
Shaibu reiterated his long-standing criticism of the PDP, accusing the party of undermining internal democracy with the fraudulent manner in which the primary election was conducted at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.
He maintained that the delegates who voted for him in his parallel primary election were the legitimate representatives chosen by the people to nominate the PDP’s governorship candidate.
Regarding speculations about his possible defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Shaibu stated that such a move would be acceptable as long as democracy remains a game for the majority. He commented, “When you see a political party wooing people to its group, that party wants to win. But when you see a party chasing people away as in the case of the PDP, that party is planning nothing but the rigging of elections.”
Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo invalidated the February 22 PDP primary election on the grounds that 378 delegates who were supposed to vote were unlawfully excluded.