Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shabby, has denied that an impeachment notice was served on him by the state House of Assembly.
In a letter dated March 12, and addressed to the House of Assembly by his Personal Assistant, Charles Olubayo, Shaibu also denied the allegation made by the lawmakers on Monday that he was evading service, leading to the lawmakers’ decision to publish the impeachment notice in a national daily.
The state assembly had last Wednesday commenced impeachment proceedings against Shaibu, accusing him of perjury and leaking government’s secrets.
The impeachment move is believed to be the latest development in the ongoing rift between Shaibu and his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki.
The deputy governor and his principal have been at loggerheads since 2023 when Shaibu declared his interest to join the Edo governorship race.
The assembly directed its Clerk to serve Shaibu with the impeachment notice, saying he has seven days to respond.
However, assembly on Monday, alleged that the Shaibu was evading service and therefore decided to serve him via substituted means, through a newspaper publication.
But the deputy governor debunked the assembly’s claim and chided the Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, over the allegation of evading impeachment notice.
“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.’.l
“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 refusing to acknowledge the impeachment notice.
“The Deputy Governor has since March 3, 2024, travelled out of Benin to Abuja and has not returned to Benin since the said March 3, 2024.
“The Clerk never saw the Deputy Governor whether in the Office, at home or anywhere for that matter since the said date; hence, we are surprised that the House resolved to publish the impeachment notice in The Observer and other national dailies.
“One, therefore, wonders where the Clerk or his appointee served him the impeachment notice and 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,” Olubayo said.
