Rifts get messier as Governor locks his Deputy out of office
The hostility between the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Phillip Shaibu, got deeper Monday after the governor allegedly locked him out of his office.
Reports claim that the deputy governor had arrived the state government house early on Monday and attempted to gain entrance into the premises through the back gate, but he could not moved in as the gate was locked.
When the deputy governor sought to gain access to the governor’s personal office, he was blocked and told that the governor was not on seat.
Giving further details on the incident, a source was quoted as saying that: “All entreaties by the security operatives to him to kindly go back and call the governor if he wanted to see his principal were rebuffed. Instead, he kept pushing the gate, causing a scene. Observers are worried that he may physically attack the governor.”
Another source explained that the gate to the office of the deputy governor and the main entrance leading to the storey building was locked with chains and heavy padlocks.
“Shaibu and his aides waited for about an hour and left. He was said to have made frantic calls trying to reach the Governor but to no avail,” the source added.
Checks revealed that Shaibu had some discussions with the state Commissioner of Police and the State Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, alerting them to his plight.
He was said to have summoned the Government House Camp Commandant, Ibrahim Babatunde, and asked him why he was locked out of his office.
Babatunde reportedly claimed it was a directive from above, adding that the Chief Security Officer, CSO, of the Government House, Williams Wabba, would be in a better position to explain.
When Shaibu called Wabba, he promised to come but never showed up until the deputy governor left.
