The Edo State House of Assembly this Monday morning impeached Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu.
Of the 20 members present, 18 voted in favour of the impeachment, with one member voting against during the House’s plenary session in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Commencing plenary at 9:41am, the Assembly commenced voting on the Motion that resulted in the impeachment of the Deputy Governor.
Philip Shaibu, 54, was Deputy Governor of Edo State from 2016, when he paired up with Governor Godwin Obaseki.
They won a second term in 2020.
However, Shaibu has been in a running battle with his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki over political differences.
His impeachment followed the adoption of the report of a seven-man committee set up by the Chief Judge of Edo Edo State, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, that probed the politician for allegations of various acts of misconduct.
Last week, the Edo House of Assembly started the impeachment proceedings against Shaibu.
Twenty-one of the 24 lawmakers signed a petition to that effect.
They accused Shaibu of perjury and disclosure of the state government’s secrets.
During its plenary last Tuesday, the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly Blessing Agbebaku told the lawmakers that the seven-day ultimatum granted Shaibu to respond to the impeachment notice served on him had expired.
The Speaker recounted to lawmakers that the impeachment notice was served on Shaibu on March 6, 2024.
However, due to what he described as the Deputy Governor’s evasion of service, the Edo House of Assembly ordered a substituted service.
Agbebaku recalled that the substituted service was published in the Nigerian Observer and the Vanguard Newspapers on March 12, 2024.
According to him, March 19, 2024 made it seven days since the publication with no response received from the embattled Deputy Governor.
