The feud between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, has degenerated beyond settlement, as the Edo State House of Assembly, yesterday, commenced impeachment proceedings against Shaibu.
The Majority Leader of the House, Charity Aiguobarueghian, who announced the impeachment notice during the sitting of the House, said the petition dated March 5, was signed by 21 out of the 24 members against the deputy governor.
He also announced that the petition was based on grounds of perjury and revelation of government secrets.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, who acknowledged receipt of the petition, directed the Clerk of the House, Yahaya Omogbai, to serve the impeachment notice on the deputy governor.
Agbebaku also gave the deputy governor seven days to respond to the notice of impeachment.
Meanwhile, former governor of the state and senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has denied involvement in the impeachment plot.
The denial was contained in a statement by his Senior Legislative Aide, Victor Oshioke, in reaction to an article in the social media, which claimed that Governor Obaseki had reached out to Oshiomhole to get his support for the impeachment of the deputy governor.
“We wish to categorically state that Oshiomhole has not, at any time, engaged in discussion with Governor Obaseki, regarding the plans to impeach his deputy. Let it be put on record that Oshiomhole, as the leader of the APC in Edo State, is solely focused on fostering goodwill between the people of Edo State and the APC, with the goal of winning the upcoming governorship election and returning the state to a path of progress under an APC government. Also, it is important to state that matters of impeachment are the sole responsibilities of the Edo State House of Assembly and the Edo State Judiciary.
“Political parties have no constitutional role to play in any impeachment process. Therefore, the notion that Oshiomhole can influence the actions of the APC lawmakers, should there be any impeachment exercise in the Edo State House of Assembly, is simply preposterous. Oshiomhole has not, and will not, engage in any deals with Gov Obaseki on this or any other political issue,” the statement said.
The relationship between Obaseki and his deputy got frosty when the Shaibu indicated interest to contest for the governorship position.
At a point, efforts were made for the two to reconcile after Shaibu tendered a public apology to the governor, following interventions of prominent personalities.
But, as the deputy governor stuck to his ambition to contest for the governorship position, he was ejected from the Government House and his office relocated outside the seat of Government at Osadebey Avenue in Benin City.