By Ayo Yusuf
There has been a new twist in the political drama playing out in Edo State as letter relocating the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, to a new office has exposed the Deputy governor as a recklessly greedy and politically over-ambitious politician who merely engaged in dramatic theatrics to whip up sentiments.
The New Diplomat’s checks reveal that a correspondent showing a memo to that effect had previously been received by a permanent secretary in the deputy governor’s office in Benin City.
The letter, which was signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, and duly acknowledged by the permanent secretary attached to the deputy governor’s office was sighted by our reporter on Tuesday morning after Monday’s spectacle in which the deputy governor was seen reportedly dramatizing in a photo showing the gate to his previous office, prior to his relocation, locked.
Mr. Shaibu had denied knowing he had been relocated to a different office or served any letter to quit the government house premises for another location. He said only the civil servants were instructed through a letter to move into a new office.
“Up till now, I don’t have any official communication that I should relocate. The only people that have official communication are my civil servants. The civil servants have official communication but I don’t. As I am speaking to you now, I am standing by the gate,” he repeatedly said.
But bureaucrats and those who are familiar with government protocols and administrative procedures maintain that Shaibu is merely behaving like a little child who is ignorant of how administrative processes work in public service.
One retired Permanent Secretary said: ” How can the Deputy governor claim he is unaware of the relocation letter from the SSG when the Permanent Secretary attached to his (Deputy governor’s office) office has already received it? It shows you how empty someone who calls himself a Deputy governor of Edo State is! The channel of Communication is to the Permanent Secretary, simple. For him to claim that civil servants are aware and he was expecting a letter mentioning his name is the height of ignorance of government administrative procedures.”
It would be recalled that a letter from the SSG showed that it was actually addressed to the deputy governor and clearly stated that Governor Obaseki had directed that Shaibu should relocate to the new office address.
The letter, dated September 15, 2023, was received by a Permanent Secretary in the office of the deputy governor, and acknowledged on Monday, September 18, 2023.
The memo, with the heading: “Relocation of Office Accommodation”, reads: “I write to inform you that His Excellency, the Governor, has approved the relocation of your office accommodation to No 7, Dennis Osadebey Avenue, G.R.A., Benin City.
You are therefore requested to ensure your compliance in line with Mr Governor’s approval, please.”
Shaibu fell out with his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, when the deputy governor earlier in August, instituted a suit in an Abuja Federal High Court, seeking the protection of the court from an alleged attempt by the governor to use the Edo State House of Assembly to impeach him.
The state government swiftly reacted to the suit by disbanding the media crew of the deputy governor and relocating his office from the main Government House Complex.
