Edo Deputy Governor Denied Access To Govt. House
The dispute between the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, took a dramatic turn on Monday morning, September 18, after Shaibu, was locked out of his old office at the Government House in Benin, the state capital.
He arrived at work at the Government House this morning and was shocked to see that the gate leading to his office was under lock and key. He said he is yet to get any letter of correspondence from the governor for him to relocate.
“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,” he said while on a phone call to a yet-to-be-identified person.
Last week, a letter said to be from the office of the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, was reported to have been sent to the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Governor directing Shuaibu to relocate to a new office situated at No 7, Dennis Osadebey Avenue, GRA, Benin City.
However, sources close to Edo’s number two citizen claimed that the new office is abandoned and in dire need of rehabilitation.
Obaseki and Shaibu fell out after the latter indicated interest in running for office of governor of the state when Obaseki had already indicated he had an anointed candidate.
Obaseki had accused his deputy of plotting a coup against him. Shaibu has since denied this and stated that Obaseki is a brother and that he remains loyal to him despite their political differences.
