By Seyi Babalola
Philip Shaibu, a former deputy governor of Edo State, has advised citizens not to support a candidate for governor who uses an interpreter to address the public.
At the same time, Shaibu asked the populace to select a “homeboy” to be the state’s next governor.
In Irrua, the state’s administrative center for the Esan Central Local Government Area, he made the appeal.
He went on to say that a candidate who needed an interpreter did not qualify as a homeboy since he couldn’t speak the Edo dialect.
He stated, “Today, we have decided that a homeboy that we know will become the governor of Edo State. You already know that Edo born in Lagos State is not a homeboy.
“Is somebody who comes here with an interpreter a homeboy? So, if that is a minus it means we will look for a homeboy.”
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, had faced criticism for hiring an interpreter to announce his intentions to his kinsmen at a ward in Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government Area of the state.
Ighodalo, who was campaigning for the PDP governorship ticket, addressed the crowd in English language, asking for their support, while an interpreter translated his words into Esan.
In the build-up to the campaign, Shaibu had a fallout with Governor Godwin Obaseki.
The fallout eventually led to his impeachment by the State House of Assembly.
