Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu‘Please forgive me,’
Edo deputy governor apologises to Gov Obaseki , There has been a face-off between Messrs Obaseki and Shaibu after the deputy governor asked a court to stop an alleged plot by the governor to remove him from office.
The embattled Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has apologised to Governor Godwin Obaseki over a face-off between them.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Benin City, Mr Shaibu appealed to Governor Obaseki to forgive his “mistakes” for them to continue to work together, Channels TV reported.“I use this medium to appeal to Mr Governor, if there is anything that I don’t know that I have done, please forgive me so that we can develop our state together,” he said.“We have just one year to go. We have been the envy of the entire country. So, Mr Governor, if there is anything you feel that I have done, please I am sorry. I need us to work together to finish well and strong,” the deputy governor added.
When asked if he had resumed at his new office, Mr Shaibu said, “We have resumed but there is still a lot of work to be done there.ⓘFIRS“There is no problem about it. The governor has asked us to go there. Like I have always tried to prove, I am a loyal servant and nothing has changed.
“I took a personal vow to support my governor and you can see my Catholic people are here. When I took a vow with God, nothing can change it and I wish that the relationship that we had will come back in the next few days and weeks.”
Mr Shaibu also said he has been missing the governor since their rift began, and expressed hope that God will “touch the governor’s heart” to forgive him.
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“I mean well. If there is any mistake I have made as a human, it is not out of wickedness because I know I’m not wicked. I have a very clean heart.”
Background
There has been a face-off between Messrs Obaseki and Shaibu after the deputy governor asked a court to stop an alleged plot by the governor to remove him from office.Mr Obaseki had denied the allegation and subsequently accused Mr Shaibu of manipulating the youth council election in Edo State because of his (Shaibu’s) interest to contest for the 2024 governorship election in the state.
The feud between the two appeared to have gotten messier in August when the governor sacked Mr Shaibu’s aides after the deputy governor staged a walk-out during a colloquium in the state.
The deputy governor had staged the walkout after his media aides and security details were denied entry at the colloquium organised by the state government to mark the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum in the state.The governor and his deputy had been political allies for several years.In their days in the All Progressives Congress (APC), during the intense political fights between Mr Obaseki and his erstwhile benefactor, Adams Oshiomhole, Mr Shaibu stood solidly behind Governor Obaseki. Mr Oshiomhole, who was the APC national chairman then, blocked Mr Obaseki from getting the APC governorship ticket for his reelection bid, forcing him to move to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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Mr Shaibu moved with the governor to the PDP, and both of them got a joint ticket and defeated the APC governorship candidate, Ize-Iyamu Osagie, to win the election.ⓘBut following the worsening feud between them, Governor Obaseki, earlier this month, told Mr Shaibu, that the “emilokan spirit” was unacceptable in the state’s politics and would not work in the 2024 governorship election in the state. Emilokan, a Yoruba word that means “it is my turn,” was made popular by President Bola Tinubu during his campaign for the 2023 election.The ideology behind the expression as used then by Mr Tinubu was that he had worked for President Muhammadu Buhari to become the first opposition leader to be elected Nigerian president, and therefore it was his (Tinubu’s) turn to be president after Mr Buhari.By bringing up the emilokan, Governor Obaseki was apparently telling Mr Shaibu not to feel that he is entitled to succeed him because he (Shaibu) had worked and supported him (Obaseki) during his political battles.
