Politics

Edo deputy governor denied access to govt house office

The deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has been denied access to his old office at the Government House in Benin, the state capital.

This was after the deputy governor arrived at the Government House on Monday morning and met the gate leading to his office locked.

The Star had reported that the Edo State Government recently relocated Shaibu’s office to a building outside the Government House in Benin.

The new office is situated at No 7, Dennis Osadebey Avenue, GRA, Benin.

Speaking on the development on Monday, the deputy governor said he was not ordered to move out of his office at the Government House, stressing that only civil servants were directed to relocate.

“Up till now, I don’t have any official communication that I should relocate. The only people that have official communication are my civil servants. The civil servants have official communication but I don’t.

“As I am speaking to you now, I am standing by the gate,” Shaibu said while on a phone call to a yet-to-be-identified person.

Shaibu has been in a frosty relationship with Governor Godwin Obaseki over his governorship ambition ahead of the 2024 election in the state.

Obaseki had also accused his deputy of plotting a coup against him, but Shaibu described his principal as a brother, saying he remains loyal to him despite their political differences.

It would be recalled that the deputy governor recently walked out of an event organised by the Edo State Government after his aides were denied entry.

He was allowed into the venue of the event but his aides, including security operatives, were stopped from gaining access.

The embattled deputy governor, who was visibly angry over the incident, later led his aides out of the venue and drove away.

This came after security details attached to Obaseki stopped Shaibu from accessing the governor at a church service to mark the 32nd anniversary of the creation of Edo State on Sunday, August 27.

The governor later stated that the security operatives were doing their job of safeguarding him.

The Star