By Imelda Osayande
Chieftains of Edo North (Afemai) Peoples Democratic Party on Monday expressed their support for Gov. Godwin Obaseki against the backdrop of the current fight between him and his Deputy, Philip Shaibu.
Shaibu recently approached an Abuja Federal High Court to stop Obaseki, the state Chief Judge and Edo House of Assembly from impeaching him.
Addressing newsmen in Benin on the crisis, the group’s Spokesman, Alhaji Kabiru Adjoto, urged Obaseki “to remain focused and finish his tenure well and strong”.
The former Speaker of the state assembly said: “We came out today to disassociate the Afemai people from this ill-conceived action, and also apologise to the governor “for the unfortunate court action.
“We are surprised and embarrassed by Shaibu’s behaviour and ill-advised mission.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, the framers of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) were very clear.
“Section 193 (1) states that the duties of the Deputy Governor, inter alia, is ‘the governor of the state may in his discretion assign to the deputy governor or any commissioner of the state responsibility for any business of the government of the state, including the administration of any department of government’.
“Obaseki has been more magnanimous than any other governor in the country.
“He saddled Shaibu with the highest number of responsibilities, ranging from sports to internally generated revenue, Boundary Committee and immunisation, which earned him the sobrique ‘the busiest deputy governor in Nigeria’.
“Edo North people stand for equity, fairness and justice and we are grateful to other Senatorial Districts, particularly the majority tribe of Edo South, for allowing us to produce the governor from 2008 to 2016, we shall not abuse that privilege” he said.
On his part, the former Chief of Staff to Shaibu, Mr Jimoh Ijegbai, said that the impeachment rumour was a mere speculation.
According to Ijegbai, nobody has seen any impeachment notice.
He said: “The deputy governor is our son.
“We don’t want him impeached and the matter is coming up on the 10th at the federal high court.
“INEC has not even brought out the time table, even the current tenure will elapse in a year and some months time, yet someone is saying that Obaseki is restricting some persons not to run for governorship election.”
Also, the former Etsako-West Local Government Chairman, Mr Yusuf Busari, assured the governor of the people’s support.
Busari advised him not to allow the crisis to distract him from the good work he was doing in the state. (NAN)
