Indications emerged on Thursday that there is uncertainty among Governor Godwin Obaseki and his numerous supporters that defected with him from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as there is a move for defection to another political party, preferably the Labour Party (LP).
It was reliably gathered that some political associates of Obaseki had been putting pressure on him that he should allow them to defect to LP and from there contest elections into the local government councils and also contest in the 2023 elections.
A source said “Some of these people have been putting pressure on the governor that they should leave the PDP since they are still battling to be integrated into the party. For instance, some aspirants will meet with PDP leaders ahead of the coming primaries and the governor’s supporters will not be invited, they will only know after the meeting.”
It was gathered that some supporters of the governor who are pushing for the move met with selected coordinators across the 18 local government areas of the state with the possibility of them joining the party.
But it was gathered that the Deputy Governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu who just returned from an oversea trip is not favourably disposed to the idea of leaving the PDP for another party as he was said to be wary of a possible backlash the move may generate.
A chieftain of the PDP who is close to Shaibu said “The Deputy Governor is not disposed to leaving the PDP despite what is happening there. He prefers that we resolve the issues instead of leaving the party again and he believes that leaving the PDP could erode the public sympathy they have enjoyed from the people of Edo State.
“The deputy governor believes that the issues can be sorted out and he is going to have a meeting with the governor and it will be addressed on Saturday.”
