Obaseki To Shaibu: Blackmail Won’t Sway My Support For Your Guber Ambition

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has declared that no amount of blackmail would force him to support his deputy, Hon. Philip Shaibu in his quest to become the governor of the state in 2024.

This was as he described Shaibu as a rabble-rouser, who always played the card of a very loyal deputy, stressing however, that it is far from reality.

Governor Obaseki specifically said that commencing intense politicking at the point in the life of his administration, would seriously be a distraction to his government.

Obaseki, who stated these in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, stressed that it was his well-considered position that abandoning governance at this point in time to pursue intense politics would not be in the best interests of the people of Edo State.

Obaseki said; “A sinner runs when no one pursues him”.

The Special Adviser on Media Project said that the most blame goes to Governor Obaseki for trying to adopt a civilised manner in relating with his deputy, in a society where such gesture would be taken for weakness.

Shuaibu last week approached a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to stop the commencement of an impeachment process against him.

The seeming cold war between Governor Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shuaibu shortly after the 2023 general elections snowballed into open confrontation two weeks ago when Shuaibu was not invited to attend a Caucus meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders and attempts made by Shaibu to bulldoze his way into the meeting venue were vehemently rebuffed by security men attached to the Government House, Benin City.

Shaibu later got an interim injunction stopping the Governor Obaseki, the Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, the Inspector General of Police and Director General of the Department of State Services from carrying out impeachment against him.

Immediately he secured the temporary relief in court, Shaibu jetted out of the country to attend a meeting in the United States from where he moved and joined his family in Canada.

Forefront News gathered from credible sources within the Edo Deputy Governor’s office that rather than communicate his absence in writing to Governor Obaseki in line with the provisions of the 1999 constitution (as  amended), Shaibu chose to write the State House of Assembly directly, a development that is seen as an abuse of procedure since he is not the State chief executive.