I Made Obaseki, He Was Not A Politician — Philip Shaibu

The Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has berated Governor Godwin Obaseki for failing to recognise him following his reinstatement to office by the court, boasting that he made Obaseki governor.

Shaibu, who was a guest on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s political programme, Politics Today, said that it took former governor Adams Oshiomhole three months to convince him to support Obaseki to become governor.

“Obaseki was not a politician, even financially, Obaseki was not financially strong to even contest the election. Oshiomhole brought him and when Oshiomhole brought him, some of us argued that he could not be him. It took Oshiomhole three months to convince me and some of our supporters to support Obaseki.

“And when we decided because of the respect for Oshiomhole to support him, he did not bring money – we brought our resources and our friends to bring money and we brought our political capital to make him governor. So, when you are talking about deputy governors and governors, he is not the one that made me, I made him,” Shaibu said.

The duo have been at loggerheads over issues regarding the governorship election in the state.

Shaibu said he was asked to be Obaseki’s deputy to add political value to the party’s ticket because Obaseki was not a politician.

He said his principal tried to stop him from running for the 2024 governorship election by stopping finances due to him as deputy governor, adding that he has not received any cheque from the government for the past year.

‘Obaseki Lawless’
Following his reinstatement as the deputy governor by a Federal High Court, Shaibu announced that he was back to his role and directed his staff to follow suit. However, the Edo state government released a statement saying that Shaibu is impersonating the deputy governor.

Reacting to the accusation of impersonation, Shaibu said that Governor Obaseki has shown how lawless he is.

”The holder of the office of the governor in Edo state today is lawless, Godwin Obaseki is lawless. If he is not lawless, he will not say Philip Shaibu is impersonating because there is a valid court judgment that he has been served.”

”That is not the only court judgement he is not obeying and this is a governor that will not even follow policies of government that he initiated.”

Shaibu’s Reinstatement
In a judgment a judgement on July 17, Justice Omotoso declared the impeachment by the Edo State House of Assembly as illegal, unconstitutional, null, and void.

The court held that the said impeachment was in gross violation of the provisions of both sections 188 and 35 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The judge held that the impeachment was in gross violation of the Constitution.

Aside from restoring Shaibu, the court also ordered that his salaries and allowances should be paid to him from April when he was impeached as the deputy governor of the state.

The court issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Edo State House of Assembly from stopping Shaibu from performing the functions of his office.

Justice Omotosho also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun to restore his security details.

Meanwhile, the Edo State House of Assembly appealed the judgement of the High Court and has filed a motion for a stay of execution pending appeal.

The court verdict came about three months after the lawmakers impeached the embattled 54-year-old as the state’s deputy governor.