Philip Shaibu: I made Obaseki… he’s not a politician
He said it took Adams Oshiomhole, the former governor of the state, three months to convince him to support Obaseki to become governor.
Philip Shaibu, Edo state deputy governor, says he made Godwin Obaseki, the governor of the state, who he is.
Shaibu, who berated Obaseki for ailing to recognise him following his reinstatement to office by the court, spoke on Friday on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He said it took Adams Oshiomhole, the former governor of the state, three months to convince him to support Obaseki to become governor.
“Obaseki was not a politician, even financially, Obaseki was not financially strong to even contest the election,” Shaibu said.
“Oshiomhole brought him and when Oshiomhole brought him, some of us argued that he could not be him. It took Oshiomhole three months to convince me and some of our supporters to support Obaseki.
“And when we decided because of the respect for Oshiomhole to support him, he did not bring money – we brought our resources and our friends to bring money, and we brought our political capital to make him governor.
“So, when you are talking about deputy governors and governors, he is not the one that made me, I made him.”
Shaibu and Obaseki have not been in good terms over the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Shaibu said he was asked to be Obaseki’s deputy to add political value to the party’s ticket because Obaseki was not a politician.
He said his principal tried to stop him from running for the 2024 governorship election by stopping finances due to him as deputy governor, adding that he has not received any cheque from the government for the past year.
Following his reinstatement as the deputy governor by a federal high court, Shaibu announced that he was back to his role and directed his staff to follow suit.
However, the Edo state government released a statement saying that Shaibu is impersonating the deputy governor.
Reacting to the accusation of impersonation, Shaibu said Obaseki has shown how lawless he is.
”The holder of the office of the governor in Edo state today is lawless, Godwin Obaseki is lawless,” he said.
“If he is not lawless, he will not say Philip Shaibu is impersonating because there is a valid court judgment that he has been served.”
”That is not the only court judgement he is not obeying, and this is a governor that will not even follow policies of government that he initiated.”
In a judgment a judgement on July 17, Justice Omotoso declared the impeachment by the Edo State House of Assembly as illegal, unconstitutional, null, and void.
The court held that the said impeachment was in gross violation of the provisions of both sections 188 and 35 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The judge held that the impeachment was in gross violation of the Constitution.
Aside from restoring Shaibu, the court also ordered that his salaries and allowances should be paid to him from April when he was impeached as the deputy governor of the state.
The court issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Edo State House of Assembly from stopping Shaibu from performing the functions of his office.
Omotosho also ordered Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police (IGP), to restore his security details.
Meanwhile, the Edo state house of assembly appealed the judgement of the high court and has filed a motion for a stay of execution pending appeal.
The court verdict came about three months after the lawmakers impeached the embattled 54-year-old as the state’s deputy governor.
