The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, will join the All Progressives Congress, APC, next week, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
The party’s National Working Committee, NWC, will receive him early next week, a high-ranking member of the ruling party at the centre, disclosed on condition of anonymity.
However, Shaibu’s flight into the APC appears to be facing turbulence on account of the stance of Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who declared, yesterday, 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 Peoples 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 preemptive, ahead of his defection to the APC.
The source said: “It has been confirmed. We have it on good authority that Shaibu has concluded plans to join the APC. He is to be received along with a few of his supporters into the party early next week by the National Working Committee of the party.
“Shaibu has been in talks with the state and national leadership of the party, even before the feud between him and the governor went public and he has been negotiating his way back into the party.
“The deputy governor has now perfected his defection to the party and we are glad and ready to receive him into our fold.”
Obaseki had, while addressing leaders from Edo North senatorial district, where the deputy governor hails from, said he was “not aware of any plot or scheme to impeach Shaibu. I have also checked and there was no such plan.
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