APC To Welcome Edo Deputy Gov., Philip Shaibu To Party Next Week

Barring unforeseen developmens, the deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu will formally announce his defection to the ruling All Progressive Congress next week.

According to high-ranking members of the party who preferred to be anonymous, the embattled deputy governor will perfect his defection early next week.

However, Shaibu’s flight into the APC appears to be facing turbulence on account of the stance of Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who declared, on Wednesday, that the party is not a rehabilitation Centre for distressed politicians.

Oshiomhole, former national chairman of the APC, and a two-term governor of Edo State, handed over to Governor Obaseki. As APC chairman, he denied Obaseki and Shaibu the party’s re-election ticket, which forced the duo to join the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, which gave them tickets and they won re-election in 2018.

Meanwhile, Shaibu has distanced himself from the move to the APC, which he described as another lie from the pit of hell, insisting that he would sink and swim with Obaseki.

This came as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, restated its August 4 order halting the alleged plot to impeach Shaibu as deputy governor and deferred the matter till August 22 for hearing.

Shaibu’s decision to return to the APC, which was predicted by political analysts, followed his move to the Federal High Court to seek an injunction against an alleged impeachment plot against him.

Governor Obaseki had, however, said the move by Shaibu to seek a court order to stop his purported impeachment was a preemptive move ahead of his defection to the APC.