Obaseki Holds Exco Meeting In Lagos Without Deputy

Amidst speculations that Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, is bent on frustrating his deputy, Rt Hon Philip Shaibu, out of office over the court case the latter instituted against him, another drama played out between the duo on Monday.

FreshNews learnt that while the governor surreptitiously sent Shaibu to represent him in two Abuja events, he went to a Lagos resort, alongside his commissioners and heads of MDAs to hold the state's weekly Exco meeting, without any prior notice to Shaibu on either the change of Exco meeting days or venue. 

Sources inside Osadebey Avenue told FreshNews that the governor's decision to send his deputy on a wild goose chase to Abuja is not unconnected to his decision to ensure that the latter cannot justifiably argue that he was deliberately schemed out of the Lagos Exco meeting when he was also on a state assignment. 

Another source added that Shaibu was deliberately not informed of any decision to hold the Exco meeting on Monday instead of the usual Wednesday or that it would be taken to Lagos. According to the source, notice of the meeting was kept top secret and deliberately away from the deputy, simply to ensure that even if he managed to return to Benin City from his Abuja assignments before the end of the meeting, he would not be able to attend.

The bottomline, the source added, is that the governor did not want his deputy to be in there with him until he meets all conditions set for reconciliation, one of which is that he must publicly renounce his governorship ambition, which the source noted is to help the governor consolidate on his choice of Asue Ighodalo as his successor. 

"The governor simply wants to put a complete end to Shaibu's ambition. He wants to consolidate on his choice of successor and does not want any Shaibu factor on its way. That's why he insists that that Shaibu must publicly renounce his ambition," the source who told FreshNews on condition of anonymity. 

While reacting to public indignation over the meeting in Lagos without any prior notice to the deputy governor, the governor explained that the state Executive Council did not relocate to Lagos as rumored.

In statement circulated mainly in the new media, the governor explained that the Exco only "... went for its annual retreat, with the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, commissioners and other heads of MDAs in attendance." 

The statement also explained that the event is a" yearly ritual by the state government for strategic sessions with different invited resource persons to brainstorm on the programmes of the government and set agenda for the coming year, with guidelines and dateline for implementation, among others."

However, it was silent on why the deputy governor, a statutory member of the Exco, was not informed of the change of date, Monday instead of Wednesday. Neither did it explain why he was not informed that it would take place at the Lakowe Lakes Golf Resort and Country Estate, Lekki, Lagos, outside of Benin City. 

The statement concluded that;

"the Council meeting held on Monday was due to speculation that Wednesday would be declared a Public Holiday, debunking insinuation that it was to prevent the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, from attending the meeting."