As Governor Godwin Obaseki sounded the alarm over a coup allegedly being organized against him by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, and claimed that he was stripped of his constitutional position, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State assumed a new dimension.
Obaseki claimed in a video posted by AIT on Twitter that the Constitution designated him as governor and did not include a position for a co-governor, only for a deputy governor who executes orders from his superior.
Obaseki claims that Shaibu and he met just after the 2023 general election. Shaibu was instructed that they needed to strengthen the PDP and that it was too early to begin campaigning because the following election would be the state’s governorship.
Governor Obaseki explains how my deputy planned to have me impeached.
The governor claimed that Obaseki, his deputy, has never approached him to discuss his desire to succeed him. He claimed to be consulting in the interim.
He claimed that the deputy governor worked with some APC lawmakers in the state house House of Assembly to elect a different speaker than the governor wanted, and he questioned why the deputy governor would desire that.
Obaseki said:
“Deputy governor has become so desperate to take over that he would do anything, including a coup against his governor.”
Philip Shaibu plotted coup against me – Governor Obaseki pic.twitter.com/2gtA7BKduG
— AIT (@AIT_Online) August 11, 2023