The Edo State House of Assembly has commenced the impeachment process against the state deputy governor, Philip Shaibu.
The petition for the impeachment of the deputy governor was read Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, at a plenary session of the house, March 6, 2024.
He said the house received the petition dated March 5, and that the petition was on two grounds which was not made public.
Agbebaku said the petition was signed by 21 members of the house.
But the house, however, gave the deputy governor seven days to respond to the petition.
Recall that the relationship between governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy Philip Shaibu, got strained following the later’s move to succeed his boss.
Shaibu had initially gone to court to seek a restraining order against the governor, House of Assembly, Chief Judge of the state among others, but he later withdrew the suit.
In the suit filed at a federal high court in Abuja, the inspector-general of police, state security service, governor of Edo, speaker of Edo state house of assembly, and chief judge of Edo state, were listed as first to fifth defendants, respectively.
Shaibu had asked the court to restrain the governor, the speaker of the state assembly, and the chief judge, from “initiating impeachment proceedings or sanctioning any impeachment” against him.
However, the deputy governor backtracked, attributing the development to intervention from “well-meaning citizens of Edo”.
