JUST IN: Silent War In Edo Govt House, As Obaseki Freezes Funding for Deputy Governor’s Office

The trouble between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Deputy Governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu has developed into ‘silent war’. After series of public attack on Shaibu by Obaseki, the governor may have decided to switch his tactics to avoid further backlash from the public.…CONTINUE READING

Investigation revealed that the office of the deputy governor has been blocked from accessing allocations that are contained in the 2023 budget.

A ‘no pay’ order has been placed on all request emanating from the Permanent Secretary to the office of the deputy governor about six months ago.

Comrade Shaibu, we learnt, has been shouldering the running expenses of the deputy governor’s office. Our credible source revealed a plan that was hatched to back the withholding of funds.

“What happened is that, the governor ordered a downward review of the current budget and prorated the portion of the balance in selected MDAs, including the deputy governor’s office.

“On completion of the process, nothing was left in his office for the remaining part of the 2023 fiscal year.”

Meanwhile, Comrade Shaibu has gone ahead to solidify his aspiration to contest the 2024 governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic, PDP.

The event which took place yesterday, November 19, 2023 in Abuja, gave him the opportunity to address several issues concerning Edo State.

Shaibu assured that, he is optimistic that he will get the 2024 People’s Democratic Party, PDP, governorship ticket in the state.

He insisted that what Edo State needs is a practical and not experimental governance, while adding that the state cannot afford to experiment with someone who does not understand the needs of the people.

“With the 2024 Edo governorship election fast approaching, the state can not afford to experiment again with someone who does not understand the politics of the state or the needs of the people,” Shaibu said.

“Edo people need practical governance and you cannot experiment again with somebody that do not understand the politics of a good state and the needs of the people.”

The deputy governor frowned at misplaced projects which some stakeholders have complained about recently, and added that citizens are asking the government to stop pushing for projects that are not needed in any environment.

“You cannot know the need of the people when you don’t live with them. So for me, competence and experience should be the watchword as we go into election in 2024.

“Who is competent? Who is more experienced? Who will hit the ground running from day one?

“Are we going to experiment with a new person again? And the person will spend the first four years learning on the job and he will spend another four years trying to embezzle, set up his businesses in the name of consolidating on the gains of the first term.

“Or we need a governor that from the day one will hit the ground running?”

Shaibu said for any government to succeed, there must be collaboration between the state and the federal government.

“From my own experience, I have seen that for me to succeed as a governor, there must be collaboration,” he added.