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Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has accused his deputy, Philip Shaibu, of planning to succeed him at all costs, while also narrating how Shaibu plotted a coup against him during the election of the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly last June.
Obaseki and Shaibu have been at loggerheads ahead of the Edo State governorship election scheduled to hold in 2024, with Shaibu insisting on being given the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket as a matter of right.
Speaking on Friday while addressing stakeholders of the party in Benin, Obaseki said Shaibu plotted against him during the race to pick a Speaker for the Edo State House of Assembly.
The governor explains: “During the nomination of the commissioners, about five of us were supposed to look at the list of nominees from the local governments of the state. That morning, I called him (Shaibu) for the meeting, but he didn’t attend. That’s why Itsako does not have a commissioner. I still gave him the respect to provide his nominee when he’s ready.
“I kept quiet and said I thought we were together. But what struck me, and I have never said this to anybody, is that after I proclaimed the House of Assembly and we were now going to elect officers, Shaibu was in Abuja. He came back that day – I am the chief security officer of this state. I get any information I need. But I have the responsibility to keep quiet and use the information properly.
“My deputy came back and called the leader in APC, telling the leader that during the elections on the next day, particularly election of the speaker of the house of assembly, he has five members who are loyal to him and that he would like the seven members of APC to work with his five members of PDP to produce the next speaker. This information will still be corroborated by somebody else.”
The governor said he then called the PDP members of the House to his house for consultation and Shaibu tried to barge into the meeting and he prevented him from entering.
“As far as I am concerned, that was not working in our common interest. Why would the deputy governor seek to have another speakership candidate outside of what the governor wants? Are we working together?
“That was when I knew we had a problem. That the deputy governor has become so desperate to take over that he would do anything, including carrying out a coup against his governor. How can you say you are loyal and you will do such a thing?
“The rest, you observed. He was going round, going to places as if we are not in the same government again. When you ask him about something, he will agree and the next day he will be doing something else.
“His Excellency, Mike Ogadiomhe called for a meeting, he called Senator Aliamekhena to that meeting in his house. I went to that meeting. The deputy said ‘oh sorry, I was just consulting, nothing will happen again.’ He will just keep quiet until it is time. I said the timetable for the election is not even out, why not wait, because there is a lot of work for us to do. Let us not be distracted. But for him, no, he continued.
“I didn’t say a word and I haven’t said a word to him. The next thing I knew, he went to court. He said he was going on holiday and I approved, as usual, for him to go for his annual holiday, and he travelled, he didn’t even tell me he was travelling, and the next thing I knew was that they were serving us summons that he had gone to court; that there is a plan to impeach him. Impeach you? What have you done? If you want to run for the office of the governor, there is nothing wrong, it is your constitutional right to run for the office if you want to.
“However, you’re in the same cabinet with me, please there is a way you can do some things. Even if you are interested, try to show respect to the people. If people see you now even before the time, going around, what do you expect the other people that have interests to do? The natural feeling will be that ‘Governor has said’ and meanwhile, Governor has not said anything. I cannot support such unfairness. Let us have the timetable, let us sit down with our leaders, let us agree how we want to do this thing. Are we going to do from me to you or are we going to let other people participate? Let us agree.
“He says we want to impeach him. I called the Speaker and asked if there was anything like that. Some of you came to Benin that Sunday for a meeting, that was when the Speaker told me that he phoned and said they wanted to impeach him and I asked what did you tell him? The Speaker said he told him there was nothing of that sort. You know what, I got court summons saying that he wants to get an order stopping us from impeaching him. Since there is no such plan, it doesn’t bother me.
“What was kind of disturbing were the excuses he gave in his petition. This matter is before the court, I don’t want to talk much about it. How can somebody swear to an affidavit, a public officer, with information that is patently wrong and false, that we stopped him from coming into Exco? Meanwhile, you attended that Exco and you signed. I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed.”
The governor stressed that Shaibu’s plan to become governor of the state had led to his deputy running a parallel government in his administration.
Obaseki said, “The constitution made me the governor of Edo State and it does not give room for a co-governor. My keen interest has been to unify and consolidate our party. That’s why I supervised the local government election.
“He (Shaibu) has never come to me to talk about running. He just said he is consulting. He went to Abuja and was boasting that he has connections in Abuja, that he has people in the national assembly, that they are all with the president now, that they will take care of him; that if he cannot get the ticket in PDP, he knows what to do.”
Obaseki said he had repeatedly told Shaibu to keep his governorship ambition in check because there is still a lot of work to be done before next year’s transition.
He said: “After the National Assembly elections, we had a small meeting, and I said look I know the next major election will be the gubernatorial election. I have to choose the person that will succeed me, but it is too early. The things we do now, how we finish well will determine how strong we are to sell the person who will take over. But more importantly, we must solidify our party, because PDP must, by the grace of God, produce the next Governor.
“So, the work we must be doing now is how to consolidate the party, how to reconcile the party and how to make the party one again. That is why I took specific interest in the local government election so that we can consolidate and unify our party.
“So, when all these issues were coming out, in the local government nominations, everywhere I went, there were already camps. ‘Oh, this is for the deputy and this is for the governor.’ I have not finished my term; won’t you allow me to finish?
“Till tomorrow, the deputy governor has never come to meet me one on one to say ‘oga, you know what, I’m thinking of running o. I want to see how I can succeed you when you finish.’ Meanwhile, he said he’s consulting. I sat down and kept quiet. Well, if you think I’m somebody you’ll come and impose your idea on when you finish consulting, I will be watching. He’s been going round doing all sorts.”
The battle between Obaseki and Shaibu assumed a disturbing dimension last week, with Shuaibu heading to court to obtain an injunction against an alleged impeachment plot against him.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in the interim injunction issued, ordered Obaseki and others, to halt their alleged bid to impeach Shuaibu over the alleged infractions.
Bennett Oghifo
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