Omobayo Godwins, the newly appointed Deputy Governor of Edo State, stated that his switch from the Labour Party (LP) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was motivated by the latter’s promise of a brighter political future for him.
The 37-year-old was inaugurated on Monday following the impeachment of Philip Shaibu as the former deputy governor. Godwins made this revelation while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He explained that his departure from the Labour Party was to back the gubernatorial bid of PDP’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, in the upcoming September 21 Edo Governorship election.
Godwins made it clear that his ascension to the deputy governorship, just months before the end of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s eight-year term, was a strategic move to bolster Ighodalo’s chances against key rivals such as Olumide Akpata of the LP and Monday Okpebholo of the All-Progressives Congress (APC).
Godwins boasted that he has grassroot support from his base in Akoko Edo, one of the local governments in the Edo North Senatorial District to boost the chances of Ighodalo, who hails from Ewohimi in the Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo Central Senatorial District.
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Godwins said the Labour Party has changed entirely from what it used to be during the 2023 polls when he was lost the poll for the Federal House of Representatives seat for the Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency.
He cited irreconcilable differences and squabbles among the party’s members as some of his reasons.
Meanwhile, Shaibu has rejected his impeachment by the lawmakers, saying it was a threat to democracy.
Shaibu was Obaseki’s deputy from November 12, 2016 till April 8, 2024 when he was unceremoniously removed following a protracted rift between the two former political allies.
