The Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Edo State, Asue Ighodalo, has refuted claims that he has a hand in the impeachment of the state’s former Deputy Governor, Phillip Shaibu.

Ighodalo described the allegation as fake, saying it was cooked up to tarnish his reputation.

This was contained in a statement by his media team on Monday.

The statement read, “While we would not usually join issues in response to every passing comment, it has become imperative to address the recent spurious allegations by former Deputy Governor Phillip Shaibu,“It is necessary for the record, to state in no uncertain terms, that Mr. Asue Ighodalo has had no role or involvement in any form whatsoever in the very public process leading to Mr. Shuaibu’s impeachment and subsequent removal from office by the Edo State House of Assembly.

“These claims are completely without merit, and Mr. Ighodalo categorically denies any such involvement. These allegations are a clear attempt to unjustly tarnish his reputation and divert attention from the actual issues at hand.

He, however, called on the public to disregard the claim, saying, “We urge the public and the media to regard these false statements with well-deserved skepticism.”

Ighodalo had earlier said he remained focused on running a governorship campaign based on issues and devoid of distractions.

On April 8, the state House of Assembly impeached the embattled state deputy governor after the adoption of the report of the seven-man investigative panel set up by the state Chief Judge to probe allegations of misconduct against Shaibu.

Shaibu was probed on allegations of perjury and leaking of government secrets.