- “You have no office in Govt House”- Obaseki
From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The feud between Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, and the attendant drama, may not end soon.
The governor had through a memo issued from the office of the Head of Service, asked Shaibu to relocate his office from Government House to No.7, Osadebey Avenue, a few metres from Government House.
Consequently, civil servant staff of the deputy governor’s Office started relocating to the new office last week.
But yesterday morning, the deputy governor got to his office in the Government House to find that the gate to the office and the main entrance leading to the storey building was locked with chains and heavy padlocks.
“Shaibu and his aides waited for about an hour and left. He was said to have made frantic calls trying to reach the governor but to no avail”, it was gathered.
Besides, the deputy governor was said to have had some discussions with the state Commissioner of Police and the State Director of State Security Services, DSS alerting them of how he was locked out from his office.
He was also said to have summoned the Government House Camp Commandant, Ibrahim Babatunde, (SP) and asked him why he was locked out of his office. The Commandant was said to have replied that it was a directive from above, adding that the CSO of Government House, Williams Wabba, would be in a better position to explain.
This prompted the deputy governor to put calls to Wabba Williams, who promised to come, but never came all through the waiting of Shaibu.
But an official of the Government who declined to be named told Daily Sun that “Shaibu does not have an office in Government House.
“He has relocated from Government House. His office is at No.7, Osadebey Avenue. He came to make trouble here, he was never locked out of his office.
“He can only come here if he is summoned by the governor,” the official said.
Recall that the face-off between the governor and his deputy followed a suit filed at an Abuja Federal High Court by Shaibu to restrain Obaseki and others from being impeached from office.
The suit triggered altercations between the governor and his deputy until two weeks ago when Shaibu announced the withdrawal of the suit from the court, following the intervention of prominent personalities, including traditional rulers and religious leaders.
But notwithstanding, the two combatants appear to fight to the finish.