The rift between Edo state governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu has worsened as the latter was denied entry into the government house office on Monday.
Shaibu arrived at the Government House on Monday morning but met the gate leading to his office under lock and key.
While he and his aides waited for about an hour before leaving, Shaibu, during the period reportedly made frantic efforts to reach the governor but to no avail.
“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,” Shuaibu said while on a phone call to a yet-to-be-identified person.
An aide to the deputy governor who made the pictures available to the public under anonymity disclosed that his principal had some discussions with the Commissioner of Police and the Director, State Services, alerting them of how he was locked out from his office.
According to him, there was no official communication to the effect that the deputy governor’s office had been locked.
The Edo State Governor has not reacted to the development, but sources close to him say Shaibu has relocated his office to a new location outside of the Government House and was not expected at the old office.
They also explained that there was no meeting scheduled for Monday so the Deputy Governor was not expected at the Government House.
If a meeting had been scheduled, they said arrangements would have been made and the Deputy Governor would have been allowed to attend.
Last week, a letter said to be from the office of the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, was reported to have been sent to the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Governor directing Shuaibu to relocate to a new office situated at No 7, Dennis Osadebey Avenue, GRA, Benin City.
