The Deputy Governor of Edo State, RT. Comrade Philip Shaibu got the shock of the moment when he got to his office Monday and found that the gate to the office of the deputy governor and the main entrance leading to the storey building was locked with chains and heavy padlocks.
Comrade Shaibu in the company of his aides, after making frantic calls trying to reach the governor but to no avail, waited for over an hour, before deciding to leave.
A staff of the government house who made the pictures available to our reporter but begged not to be mentioned disclosed that Shaibu had some discussions with the state commissioner of police and the Director of State Security Services, DSS alerting them of how he was locked out from his office.
Shaibu was said to have summoned the government house camp commandant, Ibrahim Babatunde, (SP) and asked him why he was locked out of his office. He said it was a directive from above adding that the CSO in government house, Wabba will be in a better position to explain.
Shaibu was said to have put calls to Wabba Williams who promised to come, but never came all through the waiting of Comrade Shaibu.
Once loyal partners, Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Rt Hon Comrade Philip Shaibu, are now political enemies as the governor have resisted all efforts to settle the rift between them and has vowed to ensure the relocation of Shaibu’s office out of the Edo Government House.
The genesis of the crisis many believe is connected to the 2024 gubernatorial election in the state as Comrade Shaibu is said to be interested in running for governor, but Godwin Obaseki has insisted that he must get his blessings first before his ambition can be approved.
On September 3, 2023, the governor had ordered that Shaibu’s office should be relocated out of the Government House. This move was seen as a sign of the deteriorating relationship between the governor and his deputy despite all peace efforts by various stakeholders.
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