The Crisis rocking Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has taken a new dimension as Governor Godwin Obaseki raised the alarm over a coup allegedly planned by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, against him, adding that he was deprived of his constitutional role.
Governor Obaseki, in a video posted by AIT on Twitter, said that the Constitution makes him the governor and does not provide for the office of a co-governor, but rather a deputy governor who is bound to obey the directives of his boss.
Obaseki said that immediately after the 2023 general election, he had a meeting with Shaibu, knowing that the next election would be the governorship election in the state, but he informed him (Shaibu) that it was important for them to solidify the PDP and that it was too early to start campaigning.
The governor said his deputy has never approached him and informed him about his ambition to succeed him (Obaseki). Meanwhile, he said he was consulting.
He alleged that his deputy collaborated with some members of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the state house House of Assembly during the speakership election of the house and wondered why the deputy governor would want another speaker outside the governor’s wish.
Obaseki said: “Deputy governor has become so desperate to take over that he would do anything, including a coup against his governor.”
Earlier, Governor Obaseki maintained that he would not back the ambition of his deputy, Shaibu, to succeed him.
Governor Obaseki through his Special Adviser on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, said he won’t back Shaibu because it was not time for intense politicking, as doing so would be a distraction.
According to him, no amount of blackmail would make the Edo governor support Shaibu’s governorship aspiration.
He said Obaseki’s position is that abandoning governance to pursue intense politics now would not be in the best interests of the Edo people.
Osagie, who described Shaibu as a rabble-rouser, noted that he took his indiscipline and hubris to the zenith by trying to create a crisis.
“Shaibu always plays the card of a very loyal deputy, but this is far from reality. A sinner runs when no one pursues him” he said.
The Video
https://twitter.com/i/status/1689916664740032512
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