There has been a face-off between Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, after the deputy governor asked a court to stop an alleged plot by the governor to remove him from office.
The Edo State Government, on Monday, handed over a letter of office relocation to Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of the state, hours after he was denied access to his office at the Government House.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the gate leading to Mr Shaibu’s office inside the Government House was locked with chains and heavy padlocks when he arrived there on Monday morning.
There were reports earlier that the deputy governor’s office had been relocated outside the Government House, amid the feud between him and the state governor, Godwin Obaseki.
But the deputy governor said on Monday that he had yet to be informed that his office had been relocated outside the Government House.
“Up till now, I don’t have any official communication that I should relocate. The only people that have official communication are my civil servants. The civil servants have official communication but I don’t. As I am speaking to you now, I am standing by the gate,” Mr Shaibu said on Monday.
An aide to Governor Obaseki claimed that the relocation of the office of the deputy governor was “announced” through his media team.
But an aide to the deputy governor, who asked not to be named, corroborated his principal’s position that the state government had not informed the deputy governor as of Monday that his office had been relocated.
“All that the deputy governor is asking is an official communication to move (to a new office). The movement is not a verbal thing because the office is a creation of law,” the aide told this newspaper on Monday.
“The governor has insisted that he does not want the deputy governor around him anymore. But he should do the right thing. We are still expecting his letter,” he added.
Letter finally delivered
In a fresh twist later on Monday afternoon, the state government delivered the letter to the deputy governor.
The letter, titled, “Relocation of office accommodation,” obtained by PREMIUM TIMES was dated 15 September and signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie.
“I write to inform you that Governor (Obaseki) has approved the relocation of your office accommodation to No. 7, Dennis Osadebe Avenue, G.R.A., Benin City,” Mr Ogie, a lawyer, said in the letter.
“You are therefore requested to ensure your compliance in line with Mr Governor’s approval, please.”
An aide to the deputy governor, who asked not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that the letter was delivered to his principal on Monday afternoon.
“The letter was received and acknowledged just this afternoon after the damage had been done,” the aide stated.
“Now, they have started with another twist of lies. They have invented more lies to defend his actions,” he added, apparently referring to Mr Obaseki-led state government.
Background
There has been a face-off between Messrs Obaseki and Shaibu after the deputy governor asked a court to stop an alleged plot by the governor to remove him from office.
Mr Obaseki has since denied the allegation and, subsequently accused Mr Shaibu of manipulating the youth council election in Edo State because of his (Shaibu’s) interest to contest for the 2024 governorship election in the state.
The feud between the two appeared to have gotten messier in August when the governor sacked Mr Shaibu’s aides after the deputy governor staged a walk-out during a colloquium in the state
The deputy governor had staged the walkout after his media aides and security details were denied entry at the colloquium organised by the state government to mark the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum in the state.
The governor and his deputy had been political allies for several years.
In their days in the All Progressives Congress (APC), during the intense political fights between Mr Obaseki and his erstwhile benefactor, Adams Oshiomhole, Mr Shaibu stood solidly behind Governor Obaseki.
Mr Oshiomhole, who was the APC national chairman then, blocked Mr Obaseki from getting the APC governorship ticket for his reelection bid, forcing him to move to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr Shaibu moved with the governor to the PDP, and both of them got a joint ticket and defeated the APC governorship candidate, Ize-Iyamu Osagie, to win the election.
But following the worsening feud between them, Governor Obaseki, earlier this month, told Mr Shaibu, that the “emilokan spirit” was unacceptable in the state’s politics and would not work in the 2024 governorship election in the state.
Emilokan, a Yoruba word which means “it is my turn,” was made popular by President Bola Tinubu during his campaign for the 2023 election.
The ideology behind the expression as used then by Mr Tinubu was that he had worked for President Muhammadu Buhari to become the first opposition leader to be elected Nigerian president, and therefore it was his (Tinubu’s) turn to be president after Mr Buhari.
By bringing up the emilokan, Governor Obaseki was apparently telling Mr Shaibu not to feel that he was entitled to succeed him because he (Shaibu) had worked and supported him (Obaseki) during his political battles.
PREMIUM TIMES
