The embattled Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has apologized to Governor Godwin Obaseki over a clash between them.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday in Benin City, Shaibu appealed to Governor Obaseki to forgive his “mistakes” so they could continue working together, Channels TV reported.
“I use this medium to appeal to Mr. Governor, if there is something that I do not know that I have done, please forgive me so that we can develop our state together,” he said.
“We only have one year left. We have been the envy of the entire country. So, Mr. Governor, if there is anything you think I have done, please I am sorry. “I need us to work together to finish strong and strong,” added the lieutenant governor.
Asked if he had resumed work in his new office, Shaibu said: “We have resumed, but there is still a lot of work to be done there.
“There is no problem about it. The governor has asked us to go there. As I have always tried to prove, I am a loyal servant and nothing has changed.
“I made a personal vow to support my governor and you can see that my Catholic people are here. When I made a vow with God, nothing can change it and I want the relationship we had to return in the coming days and weeks.”
Shaibu also said he has missed the governor since their breakup began and expressed hope that God would “touch the governor’s heart” to forgive him.
“Do I say it right. If there is any mistake that I have made as a human being, it is not because of evil because I know that I am not evil. “I have a very clean heart.”
Background
There has been a clash 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.
Obaseki had denied the allegation and subsequently accused Shaibu of rigging the youth council election in Edo State due to his (Shaibu’s) interest in contesting the 2024 gubernatorial election in the state.
The dispute between the two appeared to have complicated in August when the governor fired Shaibu’s aides after the deputy governor staged a walkout during a colloquium in the state.
The lieutenant governor had organized the strike after his media advisors and security personnel were denied entry to the colloquium organized by the state government to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Midwest referendum in the state.
The governor and his deputy had been political allies for several years.
In his days in the All Progressives Congress (APC), during the intense political fights between Obaseki and his former benefactor, Adams Oshiomhole, Shaibu strongly supported Governor Obaseki.
Oshiomhole, who was then APC national chairman, prevented Obaseki from securing the APC gubernatorial ticket for his re-election bid, forcing him to defect to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Shaibu moved with the governor to the PDP, and the two won a joint candidacy and defeated the APC gubernatorial candidate, Ize-Iyamu Osagie, to win the election.
But following the worsening feud between them, Governor Obaseki, earlier this month, told Shaibu that the “emilokan spirit” was unacceptable in the state’s politics and would not work in the 2024 gubernatorial election in the state. .
Emilokan, a Yoruba word meaning “it is my turn”, was popularized by President Bola Tinubu during his campaign for the 2023 elections.
The ideology behind the expression then used by Tinubu was that he had worked for President Muhammadu Buhari to become the first opposition leader to be elected President of Nigeria and therefore it was his (Tinubu’s) turn to be President. after Buhari.
By mentioning the emilokan, Governor Obaseki was apparently telling Mr Shaibu not to feel entitled to succeed him because he (Shaibu) had worked and supported him (Obaseki) during his political battles.
