Reinstated Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of denying him entry into the state.
This development comes amid escalating tensions between the two leaders over the upcoming governorship election.
In an interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today,” Shaibu detailed his allegations against Obaseki, just two days after the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered his reinstatement. Shaibu, a devout Catholic, expressed his belief that only God has the power to destroy a person, vowing to persist in his political fight until the September 21 governorship election.
Shaibu also accused Governor Obaseki of being behind a recent attack in Benin City. He claimed that the governor was fulfilling an earlier promise to destroy him. Additionally, Shaibu mourned the death of a police inspector who was killed during an attack on his convoy and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, by suspected gunmen in Benin City.
He said;
“Yesterday, I got intel that the governor has told his men that they must not allow me into town. I am a free-born of Edo State, nobody can stop me from entering Edo State.
“The constitution does not allow anybody to bar me from entering Edo State, not even when I am a deputy governor. Even if I am an ordinary citizen, I should have a right. I should have freedom.
“I didn’t know he (Obaseki) would arm them (gunmen) that much. I remember the governor saying during this crisis when I declared to contest for the governor that if I continued, he would destroy me.
“With what happened yesterday, it was obvious that it was an orchestrated attempt to actualise that statement that he was going to destroy me.”
Shaibu also said he would work hard to preserve the institution of the office of the deputy governor. He accused Obaseki of destroying his office, saying he had not been paid for the past year.
He added;
“One of my main cardinal goals is to strengthen institutions. I am seeing the institution of the office of the deputy governor being destroyed by the governor for personal gain.
“That is why I am fighting to bring back the sanity of the office of the deputy governor not for my personal self. The governor has not paid me for the past year and I know he is not going to pay me for the remaining four months.”
