Shaibu calls reopening of court an act of God, says he is fighting to restore dignity to the office of the deputy governor

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr Philip Shaibu, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Sunday said the fight against his impeachment is aimed at protecting the office of the Deputy Governor in Nigeria.

Shaibu was speaking to journalists after a thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Catholic Church where he said his reinstatement by the court was an act of God. He said the office of the deputy governor had been ridiculed by some governors since 1999.

The deputy governor said he wanted the federal government and the Inspector General of Police to investigate the killing of a police officer who was on his way from the airport. He said the officer was an orderly of the APC governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo.

Shaibu said of Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki: “The governor said he would destroy me and that is why I have decided that I will assume the office of the Deputy Governor of Edo State. I will ensure that sanity and respect is restored to that office.

“All these things I am doing are not to gain anything but to ensure that the office of the Deputy Governor is restored to sanity in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Where other deputies cannot fight, I will fight on their behalf so that governors will respect that office.”

Speaking about his victory in court, Shaibu said: “I challenged God and I told Him that I want Him to prove His power in my life, that people who are anti-God and anti-democracy are at it again and want to use me as a scapegoat. I told God that He should show the world that I am really His son.

“They said they would depose me and that I would go to court and that by the time the judgment would come, the term would be up. I now challenged God to prove that they had touched His anointed and that the judgment would come sooner than expected. I said I needed the judgment before the election.

“By the grace of God, democracy has come to stay and we who fought for democracy will protect it. Anti-democratic forces must be swept away and by the grace of God we will succeed.”

Shaibu said that ahead of the upcoming governorship elections in the state, the youth should not be used for violence but should vote to remove “anti-democratic people”.

He said: “This election is the time to change anti-democratic forces and you have to do that through the ballot box. Don’t use violence. I have been preaching this for the past year when the intimidation and harassment against me started.”

Adibe Emenyonu

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