The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, and the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, are at odds over the service of an impeachment notice on the deputy governor.
According to Media Talk Africa, Speaker Blessing Agbebaku claimed during a plenary session on Monday that the deputy governor had refused to acknowledge the impeachment notice. In response, Agbebaku ordered that the notice be published in the State-Owned Nigeria Observer and other national newspapers.
The notice was subsequently published in the Nigerian Observer and the Vanguard Newspaper on Tuesday, as per the speaker’s directive. The aim was to ensure that all avenues were explored to serve the impeachment notice and receive a response within the seven-day ultimatum set by the House.
However, Deputy Governor Shaibu denied ever receiving an impeachment notice from the State House of Assembly. In a letter addressed to Speaker Agbebaku, Shaibu’s Personal Assistant, Charles Olubayo, clarified that no such notice had been served on the deputy governor.
Olubayo explained that Shaibu had been in Abuja since March 3, 2024, and had not returned to Benin. He also pointed out that the Clerk of the State House of Assembly had not made any attempt to serve the deputy governor with the impeachment notice.
The Deputy Governor’s office expressed surprise at the decision to publish the notice in newspapers based on the false claim that Shaibu had refused to acknowledge a previous notice. They urged Speaker Agbebaku to correct the public’s misunderstanding of the situation to prevent any misrepresentation.
In light of these conflicting accounts, the impeachment saga in Edo State continues to unfold, raising questions about the transparency and accuracy of the process. Stay tuned for further developments as the political drama unfolds.
