Shaibu wasn’t served impeachment notice, says aide

The office of the Edo State deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, has denied that an impeachment notice was served on the deputy governor.

Last Wednesday, the House of Assembly commenced impeachment proceedings against Shaibu, accusing him of perjury and leaking of government’s secrets.

The impeachment notice is believed to be the latest development in the rift between Shaibu and his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki.

There had been an uneasy calm between the deputy governor and his principal since last year when Shaibu declared his interest to join this year’s Edo governorship race.

However, the Assembly on Monday directed that the impeachment notice be published in national dailies (by substitution) as it has become to serve the deputy governor the letter in person.

In a letter dated March 12 to the House of Assembly on the issue, the personal assistant to the deputy governor, Charles Olubayo, also chided the Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, for saying that the deputy governor refused to acknowledge the impeachment notice.

The letter reads, “The Office of the Deputy Governor, Edo State, wishes to draw your attention to the inaccuracies and misleading information that emanated from the plenary session of Monday, March 11, 2024, wherein Mr. Speaker directed that the impeachment notice be served on the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, through newspaper publications,  The Nigeria Observer and other national dailies, ‘sequel to the refusal of the Deputy Governor to acknowledge the impeachment notice.’

“Mr. Speaker was quoted to have also stated at the said plenary that ‘the action became necessary because the Deputy Governor refused to acknowledge an earlier impeachment notice sent to him through the Clerk of the House.’

“We wish to state categorically that no impeachment notice was ever served on the deputy governor, let alone that he refused to acknowledge it.

“The deputy governor has been travelling out of Benin to Abuja since March 3, 2024, and has not returned to Benin since that date.

“The Clerk never saw the deputy governor whether in the office, at home or anywhere for that matter since the said date; hence, I was surprised that the House resolved to publish the impeachment notice in the Observer and other national dailies because ‘the Deputy Governor refused to acknowledge the earlier impeachment notice sent to him through the Clerk of the House.’

“One therefore wonders where the Clerk or his appointee served him the impeachment notice, but he refused to acknowledge it.

“Neither the Clerk nor any person sent impeachment notice to the deputy governor, which he refused to acknowledge.

“It is, therefore, our prayer that Mr. Speaker corrects the impression created in the public as the outcome of Monday’s plenary to avoid misrepresentation in this all-important matter.”