The court-reinstated deputy governor of Edo State, Mr. Philip Shaibu, yesterday, said his fight against his impeachment was to protect the office of the deputy governor in Nigeria, which he said has been ridiculed by some governors since 1999.
Shaibu spoke to journalists after a thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Benin City, where he said his reinstatement by the court was an act of God.
He also wants the Federal Government and the Inspector General of Police to investigate the killing of a policeman while he was on the way from the airport.
He said the policeman was an orderly to the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Sen. Monday Okpebholo.
According to him, “The governor (of Edo State) said he will destroy me and that is why I decided that the office of the deputy governor of Edo State, I will fight to make sure that sanity and respect is brought back to that office.
“All what I am doing is not to earn anything but to make sure that the sanity of the office of the deputy governor is restored in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“What other deputies cannot fight, I will fight on their behalf, so that governors will start respecting that office.”
On his victory in the court, he said: “I challenged God and I told Him that I want Him to prove His power in my life, that people that are anti-God and anti-democracy are at it again and they want to use me as scapegoat, I told God to show to the world that I am truly your son.
“They said they will impeach me and I will go to court and that by the time judgment will come, the tenure would have been over. I now challenged God to it, to prove to them that they have touched His anointed and that the judgment will come more faster more than expected, I said I will need the judgment to come before the election.
“By the grace of God, democracy has come to stay and we that fought for democracy will protect it, anti-democratic forces must be flushed out and by the grace of God we will succeed.”
Shaibu said ahead of the coming election in the state, youths should not allow themselves to be used but should vote in the election to remove “anti-democratic people” rather than allowing themselves to be used for violence.
“This election is the time to change anti-democratic forces and you must do it through the ballot, don’t engage in violence. I have been preaching this for the past year when the intimidation and harassment against me started.”
On the attack that led to the death of a policeman, Shiabu said: “I refused to call anybody to the streets because they were saying we know him, he will soon call people to the streets.
“They know what they have done and they are trying to cover up, but this one, they cannot cover it up, not when a police officer was a victim, they cannot cover this, all of them must be picked.
“They orchestrated it, the men of the vigilante did that. The vigilante in Edo State killed a policeman, the IG must look into it. They are struggling to see who they can rope in, they cannot rope anybody in. I am urging the president and IG to set up an enquiry to investigate the killing, not only the killing but proscribe vigilante in Edo.”
VANGUARD
