Mr Philip Shaibu on Friday alleged that neither his salary nor his staff has been paid since the past 15 months despite his reinstatement by the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, which voided his impeachment by Edo State House House of Assembly and reinstated him as the State Deputy Governor last month.
Shaibu recently stoked the hornet nest when he announced his office and directed his staff to do same. But, the State government through the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr Chris Nehikhare in a statement alleged that Shaibu’s action was a clear case of impersonation, insisting that Mr Godwins Marvelous Omobayo remains the State Deputy Governor.
In an interview on Channels Television tagged, ‘Politics Today’, the reinstated Deputy Governor described the accusation of impersonation against him by the State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki and his Media handlers as misplaced and ineffective.
Shaibu declared that his declarative judgement of the Court subsists, noting that the notice of appeal filed by the State Governor whom he claimed had vow to deal with him, and the State House against the judgment has been fixed for hearing on the 24th of September 2024.
The Deputy Governor explained that the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Department of State Security Service have complied with the Court order ordering his reinstatement, except Governor Obaseki who he accused of violating the laws and policies.
He argued that he remains the Deputy Governor of the State, noting that his travails after his Principal warned him to drop his gubernatorial ambition.
He also said, “he (Obaseki) tried to stop me from Governor to the extent that he stopped all my finances as Deputy Governor. Till today, I have not received any cheque from the Government since the past one year; even before I was sacked by the House of Assembly, both my overhead and salary were stopped.
“I decided not to make a noise because I didn’t want Nigerians to either suggest or think that the issue of money was the problem. So, for the past one year, I have not received any money from the Government, including my staff.
“But, the good news is that I have friends and contacts that have kept that office of the Deputy Governor running.
“The accusation of impersonation by the State government exposes the Governor’s gap. Some of us who worked with him know that he is completely inexperience when it comes to public sector administration.
“If the Governor understands what a Court judgement is, and fails to obey, it shows that he is just wicked. But, I have been trying to moderate myself because of the respect I have for office of the Governor.
“Unfortunately, Obaseki has not moderated himself that is why he goes about saying that I am impersonating. “When the purported impeachment took place, I was addressed as the Deputy Governor. I lived with it, until the Court said otherwise”, Shaibu said.
“About 15-16 months ago, I have being having issues with the Governor; Immediately I showed signs that I was going to contest for the office of the Governor, that was when the whole fight, oppression and intimidation started.
“It’s my constitutional right to contest”, according to him, “when you see anti democratic forces trying to show their ugly heads, we will fight to make sure that they are not there because we do not want them to return to that era of the military when you and I had to hide to hold meetings”.
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