Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has opened up about alleged plots to impeach his deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu.
According to The Vanguard reports, the Edo state governor said there is no plan to impeach his deputy, however, noted that the move by Shaibu seeking a court order to stop his purported impeachment is preemptive ahead of his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Governor Obaseki, while briefing journalists in Benin City during a visit by the Edo North leaders, said the deputy governor has been actively engaging with senior actors both at the national and state level of the APC.
The governor stated that Shaibu is negotiating his way into their party, adding that he is at the verge of finalizing moves to defect to the APC.
He said, “Let me put it on record that I am not aware of any plot or any scheme to impeach the Deputy Governor Comrade Philip Shaibu. I have also checked and there was no such plan.
“So, the Court action taken, for me, is a thing of shock and disappointment. I am trying to reflect on the move made by somebody that I have given a broad latitude to do his work as deputy governor. So, for him to take this kind of action is shocking.”
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.
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