Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has accused his deputy, Philip Shaibu, of being too desperate to become a governor in 2024.
According to Obaseki, his deputy was willing to run a parallel government or carry out a coup against him just to become a governor in 2024.
Obaseki raised the accusations while addressing stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party on the ongoing rift between him and Shaibu in a video posted by AIT on Friday.
The governor also revealed how Shaibu called the APC leader in Edo in order to influence the election for the speaker of the house of assembly.
Obaseki said, “The constitution made me the governor of Edo State and it does not give room for a co-governor.
“My keen interest has been to unify and consolidate our party that’s why I supervised the local government election.
“He has never come to me to talk about running. He just said he is consulting.
“He (Shaibu) went to Abuja and was boasting that he has connections in Abuja, that he has people in the national assembly, that they are all with the president now, that they will take care of him.
“That if he cannot get the ticket in PDP, he knows what to do.”
Narrating why their rift heated up, Obaseki said, “During the nomination of the commissioners. About five of us were supposed to look at the list of nominees from the local government of the state.
“That morning I called him for the meeting, but he didn’t attend. That’s why Itsako does not have a commissioner. I still gave him the respect to provide his nominee when he’s ready.
Explaining further, he added, “I kept quiet and said I thought we were together. But what struck me, and I have never said this to anybody, is that after I proclaimed the House of Assembly, we were now going to elect officers.
“He was in Abuja, he came back that day. I am the chief security officer of this state. I get any information I need. But I have the responsibility to keep quiet and use the information properly.
“My deputy called the leader in APC, telling the leader that during the elections on the next day, particularly the speaker of the house of assembly, he has five members who are loyal to him and that he would like the seven members of APC to work with his five members of PDP to produce the next speaker.
“As far as I am concerned, that was not working in our common interest.
“Why would the deputy governor seek to have another speakership candidate outside of what the governor wants? Are we working together?
“That was when I knew we had a problem. That the deputy governor has become so desperate to take over that he would do anything, including carrying out a coup, against his governor.
“How can you say you are loyal and you will do such a thing?”
Obaseki said he has repeatedly told Shaibu to keep his governorship ambition in check because there is still a lot of work to be done before next year’s transition.
