Gov Obaseki responds to deputy governor’s apology

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has responded to an apology from his deputy, Philip Shaibu, over a face-off between them.

Background

There has been a face-off between Messrs Obaseki and Shaibu after the deputy governor asked a court to stop an alleged plot by the governor to remove him from office.

Mr Obaseki had denied the allegation and subsequently accused Mr Shaibu of manipulating the youth council election in Edo State because of his (Shaibu’s) interest to contest for the 2024 governorship election in the state.

The feud between the two appeared to have gotten messier in August when the governor sacked Mr Shaibu’s aides after the deputy governor staged a walkout during a colloquium in the state.

The deputy governor had staged the walkout after his media aides and security details were denied entry at the colloquium organised by the state government to mark the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum in the state.

The governor, in the heat of the feud, relocated the deputy governor’s office out of the Government House.

In a fresh twist last week, Mr Shaibu, the embattled deputy governor, tendered a public apology to the governor over the face-off.

“I use this medium to appeal to Mr Governor, if there is anything that I don’t know that I have done, please forgive me so that we can develop our state together,” Mr Shaibu said while addressing reporters in Benin, the state capital.

“We have just one year to go. We have been the envy of the entire country. So, Mr governor, if there is anything you feel that I have done, please I am sorry. I need us to work together to finish well and strong,” the deputy governor added.

Obaseki’s response

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Obaseki, said he had noted the “public apology” from his deputy, stressing that the apology followed “an aberrant behaviour that contradicts” what people of the state stand for.

The governor recalled how Mr Shaibu “needlessly filed unfounded petitions in Nigerian courts” restraining him (Obaseki), the state assembly and security agencies from “a non-existent” impeachment process against the deputy governor.

He accused the deputy governor of repeatedly breaching protocol, carrying out unwarranted and unprovoked attacks in the media against him as well as the state government.

“The media frenzy as a result of the above and more, provided an impression of crises that has been precarious and distasteful to Edo people in the state and across the world,” Mr Obaseki said.

The governor, however, said he had decided to forgive the deputy governor for his actions following the apology.

“Although these unwarranted provocations caused me severe personal discomfort, as a person of faith, I am under obligation to accept this apology because as they say, ‘to err is human, to forgive is divine.’

“In good faith, I trust that the public apology as expressed by the deputy governor is genuine and followed by contrite steps to improve his conflict resolution skills,” he said.

Mr Obaseki enjoined the deputy governor to guide his “proxies” to act in accordance with his “piety.”

The governor expressed hope that the feud between him and his deputy would be put to an end “forthwith” so that his administration will finish strong and deliver dividends of democracy to the people of the state for the next one year.