Sanctity, Respect Must be Restored to Office of Deputy Governor – Shaibu, Accuses Edo Govt of Attempted Cover-up in Killing of Police Officer

In church on Sunday to thank God for his reinstatement as deputy governor of Edo State, and for surviving an assassination plot allegedly by agents of the state government last Thursday, Philip Shaibu said his judicial battle against his impeachment was to ensure that the sanctity of the office of the deputy governor was restored in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The one-time students’ union leader insisted that “What other deputies cannot fight, I will fight on their behalf so that governors will start respecting that office”, which he noted had been ridiculed by some governors since 1999.

Pointedly accusing the state government of orchestrating the bloody violence that killed a police orderly to Senator Monday Okpebholo, the governorship candidate of the All-Progressives Congress, APC, Shaibu said “the men of the vigilante did that. The vigilante in Edo State killed a policeman; the IG must look into it. They are struggling to see how they can rope people in; they cannot rope anybody in”. He reiterated his appeal to President Bola Tinubu, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate the killing of Inspector Akoh Onuh.

Speaking to journalists after the thanksgiving service at the St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Airport Road, Benin City, Shaibu cautioned youths in the state against making themselves available to be used as thugs during the upcoming September 21 governorship poll, but rather come out to vote out those he referred to as “undemocratic forces”.

He described his reinstatement by the Federal High Court, Abuja division, as an act of God which he said was beyond the expectation of his traducers who had boasted that they would impeach him, and before the court would determine his case challenging it, the tenure of the administration would have been over.

According to him, “The governor said he will destroy me and that is why I decided that the office of the deputy governor of Edo State, I will fight to make sure that sanctity and respect is brought back to that office. All these I am doing is not to earn anything but to make sure that the sanctity of the office of the deputy governor is restored in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What other deputies cannot fight; I will fight on their behalf so that governors will start respecting that office”

On his victory in the court, he said: “I challenged God and I told Him that I want Him to prove His power in my life; that people that are anti-God and anti-democracy are at it again, and they want to use me as scapegoat. I told God to show to the world that I am truly Your son.

“They said they will impeach me, and I will go to court, and that by the time judgment will come, the tenure will have been over. I now challenged God to prove to them that they have touched His anointed and that the judgement will come faster than expected. I said I will need the judgement to come before the election. By the grace of God, democracy has come to stay, and we that fought for democracy will protect it; anti-democratic forces must be flushed out, and by the grace of God, we will succeed.”

Ahead of the upcoming election, Shaibu advised youths in the state not allow themselves to be used for violence but should rather vote in the election to remove “anti-democratic people”. He said “This election is the time to change anti-democratic forces and you must do it through the ballot. Don’t engage in violence. I have been preaching this for the past year when the intimidation and harassment against me started.”

On the attack that led to the death of a policeman, Shaibu said “I refused to pull anybody to the streets because they were saying we know him, he will soon pull people to the streets. They know what they have done, and they are trying to cover up; but this one, they cannot cover it up. Not when a police officer was a victim. They cannot cover this; all of them must be picked up. They orchestrated it; the men of the vigilante did that. The vigilante in Edo State killed a policeman, the IG must look into it. They are struggling to see how they can rope people in; they cannot rope anybody in. I am urging the president and IG to set up an enquiry to investigate this killing; not only the killing but proscribe vigilante in Edo.”