Edo Deputy governor blocked from seeing Obaseki

At the 32nd anniversary celebration of Edo State, tensions flared as a security aide assigned to Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, obstructed his own deputy, Philip Shaibu, from approaching him during the commemorative service held at the New Festival Hall within the Government House premises in Benin City.

Photographs that quickly circulated across various online platforms captured the dramatic incident, revealing a security operative physically preventing Deputy Governor Shaibu from reaching Governor Obaseki during the event.

The incident occurred against the backdrop of simmering disagreements between the governor and his deputy over the past several weeks.

This follows Deputy Governor Shaibu’s legal move to seek protection from a potential impeachment. He had successfully secured an injunction from the Federal High Court in Abuja, which effectively halted any attempts by the governor and the state assembly to remove him from office.

The 32nd-anniversary celebration, intended to be a unifying occasion, inadvertently exposed the extent of the discord within the upper echelons of the Edo State administration.

Observers noted that the security aide’s intervention to block Philip Shaibu from accessing the governor sheds further light on the tension brewing between the two officials.