Akani Alaka
A characteristic feature of democracy in Nigeria, at least as has been practised since the country’s return to civil rule in 1999 is the fact that the relevance or otherwise of deputy governors is dependent on the whims and caprices of their principals.
That’s why they are generally regarded as spare tyres while most Nigerians will find it difficult to easily recall the names of three or five serving deputy governors.
Few deputy governors that have given a hint of not toeing the line by challenging the almighty governors have always ended up in ignominy – routed out of office through impeachment or completely neglected and screened out of affairs of the state by their principals.
No longer At Ease
Certainly, one of such fates now awaits Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of Edo State whose dramatic fallout with his principal took a turn for the worse on Monday when he hurriedly left an event attended by Governor Godwin Obaseki after the media crew attached to his office was refused entry.
Shaibu had arrived at the event venue – a colloquium organised to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, Airport Road, in Benin City, the state capital with some of his media aides.
But the governor’s aides and security operatives had said Shaibu’s aides could not go into the hall with him. He insisted that the aides should go in with him and, after a bit of argument with the security operatives, abandoned his attempt to enter the venue of the event and was later seen entering his car. The deputy governor was heard in a video that later went viral that he could not be in an event where his media crew is barred.
However, that action came with consequences for Shaibu later in the day as the media crew was disbanded. Edo Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Osa Nehikhare in a statement on Monday night said with the disbandment, the deputy governor will “henceforth request the Ministry of Communication and Orientation for media coverage of activities of his office.”
The State Government had accused the deputy governor and the media crew of attempting to force their way into the hall where the governor and other invited dignitaries were already seated and orchestrating a “stage-managed walkout and disruption” of the event.
However, the Monday event followed another incident on Sunday in which a security operative was seen physically preventing the deputy governor from going near Obaseki and his wife at an Interdenominational Thanksgiving Church Service to mark Edo’s 32nd anniversary, held at the Festival Hall, Government House.
Video and photos shared on social media platforms show Obaseki and his wife looking on as the security aide stood in front of him to stop Shaibu from getting to them.
Stop My Impeachment
The Sunday denomination service was the first time Obaseki and the deputy governor would at least, publicly, be in the same space since the news emerged some weeks ago that Shuaibu had dragged his principal to a Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged plot to impeach him.
Shaibu had in the suit alleged that Obaseki had reached an agreement with the Edo House of Assembly to impeach him after he made his intention to succeed him as governor public. He had told the court that the governor had excluded him from meetings and stripped his office of some responsibilities, including monitoring of internally generated revenue of the local governments.
The embattled deputy governor had consequently asked the court to grant him interlocutory injunction stopping the Governor, the Edo House of Assembly or their agents from harassing, intimidating, embarrassing or preventing him from carrying out the functions of his office as deputy governor of Edo State, including attending State Executive Council meetings and other functions pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The court had on August 3, granted him a restraining injunction and protection from being impeached.
A Breach Of Trust
But some of the aides of Obaseki, including members of the State Executive Council had condemned the action of the deputy governor while denying knowledge of any plot to impeach him.
Indeed, the Edo Commissioner for Communication and Orientation had after a meeting of the executive council that followed the court order insisted that Shaibu’s action would attract consequences.
“What he did is a breach of trust; a breach of the oath he swore to. Some of the things that are contained, some of the documents he put in the public space, are sensitive government documents and are what he swore to keep secret. He breached what he swore to protect which is the truth, and there are consequences when that happens,” he said.
How They Fell Apart
Before the twist in their relationship, Shaibu and Obaseki were regarded as the model between a governor and his deputy.
Adams Oshiomhole, Obaseki’s predecessor who is from the same senatorial district of the state as the embattled deputy governor had plotted the emergence of Shaibu, a former member of Edo House of Assembly and House of Representatives as the deputy to his successor.
Oshiomhole, who is generally regarded as the godfather of Shaibu had intended that the embattled deputy governor who is considered politically savvy would complement the technocrat Obaseki who was his Chief of Staff.
The arrangement worked with Obaseki ceding responsibilities more than usual for a deputy governor to the former lawmaker.
The relationship was further solidified in the crisis leading to the 2020 governorship election when Obaseki had to defect to the PDP to get a governorship ticket.
Indeed, Shaibu had dumped his godfather Oshiomhole, just as Obaseki also insisted that he would remain his deputy when PDP chieftains asked him to choose a member of the party as his running mate to get their ticket.
But the relationship between the two began to deteriorate, as was learnt, after the 2023 presidential election. The deputy governor was accused of forming a campaign group in all the wards across the state while he was also allegedly plotting the second option of defecting to APC if he could not get the ticket of the PDP.
Shaibu, according to those in the camp of the governor, had subsequently abandoned governance for full politics despite caution from Obaseki that the time was not yet ripe for the campaign to succeed him.
Furthermore, the governor was said to have opposed Shaibu’s ambition as he noted that he is from the same Etsako West in the Edo North senatorial district as Oshiomhole whom he took over from.
Obaseki was said to have argued that the Central senatorial zone of the state which has not produced the governor since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 should be given priority to produce his successor.
He Is Plotting To Defect To PDP
However, it was learnt that the suspicion about the intention of the deputy governor was further strengthened when he allegedly attended a party organised to celebrate the inauguration of Oshiomhole as a senator in Abuja.
Obaseki himself had told leaders of Edo North Senatorial District during a visit to his office that the court action instituted by their son was to stop his purported impeachment ahead of his planned defection to the APC.
The governor claimed his deputy has been in talks with the leaders of APC in the state and at the national level of the party in preparation for his defection.
While describing the action of the deputy governor as shocking, the governor noted that Shaibu had tried to recommend the son of an APC chieftain for appointment as the administrator of a local government.
“I believe that this action by him is a preemptive move to get a court order, keep his position and move to another party. I think it’s unfair for our party. We don’t need this sort of crisis. I have been getting calls all over the world and it’s rather sad that somebody who is part of an administration will do this to the administration because of his ambition,” the governor told the Edo North PDP leaders.
Abandoned At Home
At a press briefing organised after the meeting, leaders of the Edo North PDP declared support for Obaseki, while reprimanding Shaibu for taking his boss to court.
A former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Kabir Adjoto, who led the group noted that Obaseki has been magnanimous to his deputy by giving him so many responsibilities.
They also condemned the governorship bid of the deputy governor, noting that it is against the principle of federal character.
“Edo North people stand for equity, fairness and Justice and we are grateful to other Senatorial Districts particularly, the majority tribe, Edo South for allowing us to produce the governor from 2008 to 2016. We shall not abuse that privilege.”
PDP leaders from the other senatorial zones in the state have also declared their support for the Governor while they reprimanded Shaibu. They have also urged him to withdraw the case he filed against his principal.
Former governor Oshiomhole had also insisted that the APC would not be willing to receive him as the party is not a refugee camp for disenchanted politicians. The deputy governor had insisted that the claim that he is planning to dump the PDP for APC is not true, vowing to sink and swim with Obaseki.
I Can’t Drop My Ambition For Loyalty To Obaseki
Speaking to journalists after he was stopped from meeting with Obaseki last Sunday, Shaibu reiterated his loyalty to the governor, even as he insisted that he would not talk about the controversies regarding his rift with him in the media.
“As for the issues that are around town when I was away, I really would not want to talk. He is my elder brother and boss. And if I have issues with him, I think it is better settled at home and not in the media,” the embattled deputy governor said.
“I can tell you that from my Christian background if you make a vow with God that you want to do something, you must fulfill it. And the vow I have taken with God is that I will continue to support Godwin Obaseki as the governor of Edo State from the beginning to the end,” he added.
But he was quick to add that he is not ready to dump his ambition, the major source of friction between them.
“But that does not stop anything that has to do with ambition. Ambition is personal and it does not affect loyalty. My loyalty to the governor remains absolute. I see that everybody is doing solidarity. I am also in solidarity with the governor. I am also declaring my unalloyed solidarity and loyalty to the governor and nothing more,” the deputy governor said.
With members of the PDP and government taking sides with the governor, it is going to be a long lonely walk for the deputy governor. Things have certainly fallen apart between Shaibu and Obaseki and it is doubtful if they can ever be put together. The question is can Shaibu survive the axe that seems to be dangling on him?
