Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has pleaded with the governor, Godwin Obaseki, to forgive him, saying he is sorry while declaring that he is really missing “my” governor.
He also stated that he had not moved into his newly allocated office at No. 7, Dennis Osadebey Avenue, Government Reservation Area (GRA), outside Government House, Benin, because the recently-renovated office was not yet policed, and it lacked a conference room, among other needs.
Shaibu, a staunch Catholic, spoke yesterday at his personal residence in GRA, Benin, while receiving members of Catholic Men Organisation of Nigeria (CMON), Benin Archdiocese, led by the President, Austin Odigie, a lawyer, who visited to give him a letter for his investiture on September 24 this year as the grand patron of CMON in the Archdiocese.
Edo deputy governor said: “We have resumed (in the newly-allocated office). There is no problem about it, but there is still a lot of work to be done there. There is no conference room. So, we are working on a lot of things there. The governor (Obaseki) asked us to go there (new office), and we are going.
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“I am a loyal servant. Nothing has changed. I took a personal vow to support my governor. My Catholic people are here. Everything about me, if I have a vow with God, nothing can change it. I only wish that the relationship that we (Obaseki and Shaibu) had, in the next few days, will come back. I am really missing my governor.
“God will touch the governor’s heart and touch all of us, and even those that are trying to be in between, God will touch them to know that I mean well.
“If there is any mistake that I have made as a human, it is just human. Not out of wickedness, because I am not wicked. I have a very clean heart. I will use this medium to plead with Mr. Governor (Obaseki) that if there is anything that I do not know that I have done, please forgive me, so that we can develop our state together.
“We have just a little over one year to go (second tenure to expire on November 12, 2024, while the governorship election will be held in September next year). We (Obaseki and Shaibu) have been the envy of the entire country. It is still possible. So, Mr. Governor (Obaseki), if there is anything you feel that I have done, I am sorry. I need us to work together, to finish well and strong, because that is my prayer for you.”
Shaibu also stated that he would have received his guests at his new office, and not in his personal residence, but the one-storey building had not been policed, and he would not want to take unnecessary risks, at this crucial period, while assuring that he would continue to serve God, as taught him by his late father, who had a Muslim background, but later became a Catholic, and died as a pentecostal pastor.
He noted that his holding unto God had always made him be victorious while describing himself as God’s miracle, and that he and his siblings grew up in a Catholic church, and still participating in Catholic programmes and activities.
Edo deputy governor described himself as a very committed and strong-willed person who could not be bought with money, declaring that: “If I am with you, I am with you. Nothing troubles me. I sleep well,” and revealed that after politics, he would end up as a warden in the Catholic church, as his wife, Maryann, was currently doing.
President of CMON, Benin Archdiocese, earlier in his remarks, noted that the members of the association were not in the best position to perform the investiture of Shaibu as the grand patron, which he said would be handled by the Catholic Archbishop of Benin Diocese, His Grace, Most Rev. Augustine Obiora Akubeze.
Odigie also described Shaibu, a former member of the House of Representatives and an ex-president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), as a committed member of CMON and a role model, who should be emulated by the younger generations.
