Obaseki alleges suit by deputy gov is part of move to defect, but remain in govt

The deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has filed a lawsuit to prevent impeachment proceedings against him, and the governor, Godwin Obaseki, alleges that this is a preventative measure that will allow Shaibu to switch parties and keep his job as deputy governor.

Obaseki made a statement for the first time on Monday, since Shaibu filed a lawsuit to prevent the governor from allegedly trying to impeach his deputy due to their unresolvable issues.

The Governor said, “There is no timetable yet for the Edo election, it will come later in the year. So, I believe that this action by him is just a pre-emptive move to get a court order to keep his position while he now moves to the other party to get the ticket.

Read Also: Edo Assembly approves Obaseki’s request for N1.5bn loan

“And I think it’s unfair on our party, it’s unfair on the state that we don’t need this sort of crisis and two our state is not being represented well locally and internationally. I have been getting calls from all over the world.

“It is rather sad that somebody who is part of an administration would do this to the administration he has been part of just because of his own personal ambition.”

In his decision on Shaibu’s request on notice, Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an interim order, asking the court to stop his principal’s attempt to force him out of his position.

Justice Mohammed instructed the parties to the lawsuit to uphold the status quo in his ruling.

The status quo order will remain in effect until the defendants are required to provide justification as stated in another court decision issued on July 27, 2023.

Justice Mohammed then ordered that the IGP, SSS, and Obaseki—who weren’t represented in court—be served with hearing notices and postponed the hearing in the case until August 10.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now