Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, immediately withdrew his statement after he was caught on tape announcing that a little token had been sent to each Senator's account as they embark on vacation. 

The lawmakers went into recess on Monday, August 8, and are to resume on September 26. While speaking during its plenary on August 8, Akpabio who appeared not to know he was being televised live, announced that the clerk of the House had sent a ‘’little token'' to the accounts of each Senator as they go on holiday.

‘’In other to enable all of us to enjoy our holiday, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the clerk of the National Assembly'' he said

It appears that  he was immediately alerted that he was on live TV,  and he thereafter withdrew his statement, saying;

‘’I withdraw that statement. In other to allow you enjoy your holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you on a safe journey and return''

Watch the video below…

President Bola Tinubu has not ruled out military intervention, the presidency has said, ahead of a West African coalition’s crisis summit in Abuja on Thursday.

Tinubu, who also chairs the bloc ECOWAS, still believes diplomacy is the “best way forward” to resolve the crisis, according to his spokesman.

So far efforts by ECOWAS and the United States to convince Niger’s new rulers to hand back power to the democratically elected leader have made little headway.

The soldiers who took charge defied a Sunday deadline to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face the possible use of force and have been unswayed by negotiations, instead staging a rally at a stadium in the capital Niamey.

“No options have been taken off of the table,” Tinubu’s spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said on Tuesday.

The United States said it still hopes the coup could be undone but is “realistic”, a day after a top US envoy appeared to make no progress in an unannounced visit.

“At the same time, we are making clear, including in direct conversations with junta leaders themselves, what the consequences are for failing to return to constitutional order,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on social media that he had spoken to Bazoum “to express our continued efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the current constitutional crisis”.

Delegation rebuffed

ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States — imposed trade and financial sanctions on Niger after the rebel soldiers toppled Bazoum.

Instead of heeding the bloc’s seven-day ultimatum to reinstate Bazoum or face potential military intervention, the soldiers who seized power closed Niger’s airspace.

The bloc also sought to send a delegation to Niamey on Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s crisis summit.

But the ruling military blocked the mission, saying public “anger” triggered by the bloc’s sanctions meant the delegation’s safety could be at risk.

In a statement, ECOWAS confirmed that the visit by a joint delegation with African Union and United Nations officials had been refused.

In a further show of defiance and possible intent to hold on to power, the military leaders announced on Monday the appointment of Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as the new prime minister.

‘Difficult’ talks

ECOWAS is struggling with a cascade of coups since 2020 that have now hit four of its 15 members.

In Mali, Burkina Faso and now Niger, all the takeovers have been fuelled by jihadist insurgencies that have claimed many thousands of lives, forced at least two million from their homes and dealt crippling blows to some of the world’s poorest economies.

On Monday, veteran US envoy Victoria Nuland met with Niger’s military rulers for more than two hours but came away empty-handed.

She described her talks as “extremely frank and at times quite difficult”.

She said she offered the coup leaders “a number of options” to end the crisis and restore relations with the United States, which like other Western nations has suspended aid.

“I would not say that we were in any way taken up on that offer,” she told reporters before her departure.

Niger’s new head, General Abdourahamane Tiani, did not attend the meeting, and Nuland was unable to see Bazoum, who has been detained since July 26.

Warnings

The military leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso have expressed solidarity with Niger, saying any military intervention would be seen as a “declaration of war” against them.

The two countries sent letters Tuesday to the United Nations and the African Union, calling on them to prevent “military intervention against Niger” where the security and humanitarian consequences of such action “would be unpredictable”.

Algeria, which shares a long land border with Niger, has also cautioned against a military incursion, which President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said would be “a direct threat” to his country.

Bazoum, 63, was feted in 2021 after winning elections that ushered in Niger’s first-ever peaceful transition of power.

He took the helm of a country burdened by four previous coups since independence, and survived two attempted putsches before he himself was ousted.

His support was a key factor in France’s decision last year to refocus its Sahel anti-jihadist mission on Niger after withdrawing from Mali and Burkina Faso.

France has 1,500 troops in Niger and the United States has 1,000 personnel, most of whom are deployed at two major air bases.

The Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms says the Nigeria Customs Service and 62 other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government will stop direct collection of revenue.

The Chairman of the Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast programme on Wednesday, said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will now collect revenue for the MDAs.

Oyedele, a former Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said Nigeria’s revenue collection from taxes is one of the lowest in the world but the cost of collection is high.

“Ironically, our cost of collection is one of the highest. And the reason for that is that we’ve got all manners of agencies. The Federal Government alone, we have 63 MDAs that were given revenue targets last year, no; actually in the 2023 budget,” he said.

“And two things that would come up from that: on one hand, these agencies are being distracted from doing their primary function which is to facilitate the economy. Number two, they were not set up to collect revenue, so, they won’t be able to collect revenue efficiently.

“So, move those revenue collection function to the FIRS. It has two advantages: the cost of collection and efficiency will improve, these guys will focus on their work, and the economy will benefit as a result.”

Asked for clarity on his comments, Oyedele said, “If you are Customs, focus on trade facilitation, border protection and if you are NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission), just regulate telecommunications. You are not set up to collect revenue.

“It can be your revenue and someone else can collect it for you. There will be more transparency because you see what is being collected and is accounted for properly. It is also a way of holding ourselves to account as to how we spend the money we collect from the people.”

Pushbacks?

The committee chair said there will be pushbacks from stakeholders and others benefitting from the process but the committee’s sole objective is to not to take what belongs to anyone but what should come to the government.

Oyedele also described the Treasury Single Account (TSA) initiative as a step in the right direction but it has not been fully developed. He said the TSA will help his committee’s work but there are more to do to maximise the initiative.

Furthermore, Oyedele also said the presidential committee would look into excess bank charges. He said businesses pay as high as 65 to 70 levies and taxes but the committee’s plan is to reduce the number of taxes to about 10.

N20trn Tax Gap

Oyedele, chair of the committee inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, said Nigeria’s tax gap is estimated around N20trn as many members of the elite evade paying the exact taxes they should remit to the government.

“As of today we have significant tax gap estimated in the region of 20 trillion or even more naira. If you focus more on the few major taxes – Value Added Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, a lot of people are not (tax) compliant, particularly the middle class and the elite, some of them are in the tax net with one or two fingers, you pay a thousand naira as tax when you should have paid N10m,” he said.

The tax expert said all of the revenue not captured before would be brought into the tax net.

“In fact, our plan is to repeal many of the taxes that currently make doing business difficult without introducing new ones and yet collect more,” he said.

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has asked security agencies to immediately clear a ministerial nominee, and former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai.

The youths warn that their patience must not be tested further with the refusal to confirm the nomination of El-Rufai for appointment as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

A statement by the forum’s president, Yerima Shettima, stated that the youths and indeed northern Nigeria feel humiliated by the news that out of the 48 names submitted to the Senate by President Bola Tinubu, El-Rufai is among the only three whose confirmations were differed.

“We regret to note that the targeting of Nasir El-Rufai for such irreverent treatment is part of a wider agenda being pursued by certain dubious political interests to deny the north and the younger generation of Nigerians fair representation in the coming cabinet.

“It is suspicious that El-Rufai, who is among the best, if not the best of all the names submitted by the President should be among the only three that could not be confirmed without justifiable reasons.

“We consider it deceptive for the Senate to give security checks as reason for not confirming El-Rufai because it is common knowledge that the ministerial nomination list passed through security scrutiny before getting to the Senate.

“At the risk of overstating the case, we can boldly say that El-Rufai, Hannatu Musawa, Bello Matawalle and Festus Keyamo are by far the best representation of the young generation of Nigerians included in the list.

“It will therefore amount to unwarranted provocation to Kaduna State, to the North and to the Nigerian youth for El-Rufai not to be confirmed for flimsy considerations,” Shettima said.

An international group, Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA), has dragged President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice, seeking an order of the court to stop the planned military action against the Republic of Niger.

The group in the suit instituted on its behalf by a Nigerian lawyer, Dr Oluwakayode Ajulo, is praying the regional court to invoke relevant ECOWAS treaties and international laws to stop the military invasion of Niger Republic being spearheaded by the Nigerian Government.

The grouse of the civil group, among others, is that the planned military action or invasion will run foul of the obligations in the ECOWAS treaties and therefore amount to illegality.

The suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/3/23 emphasized categorically that ECOWAS treaties prohibit aggression among Member States.

Apart from the Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA), other plaintiffs in the matter are a former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Internal Affairs (NIIA), Professor Bola Akinterinwa and a Nigerian Northern Region lawyer, Hamza Nuhu Dantani.

The defendants are ECOWAS, Heads of ECOWAS Mission, the President of ECOWAS Mission, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Niger.

A military group had on July 26 toppled the civilian and democratic government of President Mohammed Bazoun, who has since been clamped into unlawful military detention.

Although the three plaintiffs in the regional suit described the coup d’etat as most unfortunate, they, however, warned that Nigeria should not travel the dangerous road of military hostilities that may further escalate the crisis in Niger Republic.

According to them, over 300,000 refugees, mainly Nigerian citizens, have already fled Niger Republic, adding that military action against Niger Republic would lead to a breach of fundamental rights to life, right to dignity of human persons and liberty to life.

The plaintiffs, therefore, prayed to the ECOWAS Court of Justice for a restraining order against any form of military action that may undermine the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Niger Republic.

Besides the Court action, the plaintiffs wrote a strongly worded letter to President Tinubu, notifying him of the pendency of the suit and the need to respect and obey the rule of law.

The letter dated August 8, 2023, is entitled “NOTIFICATION OF PENDENCY OF CASE BEFORE THE ECOWAS COMMUNITY COURT OF JUSTICE; CALL FOR STRICT ADHERENCE TO THE PROTOCOL OF THE HONOURABLE COURT THE ECOWAS COMMUNITY COURT OF JUSTICE”.

Nigerian record-breaking athlete, Tobi Amusan was not included in the list of 26 athletes released by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria for the 2023 World Athletics Championships on Tuesday.

The world champion and record holder in the women’s 100-meter hurdles was conspicuously absent from the list due to the doping scandal surrounding the record-breaking athlete.

The competition, which runs from August 19 to August 27 in Budapest, Hungary, will feature 11 male competitors and 15 female athletes from Nigeria.

Ese Brume, who finished second in the competition the previous year, is expected to go for gold in Budapest this year. She will compete in the long jump event alongside Ruth Usoro. Sade Olatoye (Hammer) and Chioma Onyekwere (Discuss) are two famous ladies on the AFN list.

National champion Usheoritshe Itshekiri, Favour Ashe, Seye Ogunlewe, Alaba Akintola, Fakorede Adekalu, and Anunagba Karlington will be spread across the men’s 100m and 4x100m relay races, just as Rosemary Chukwuma, Favour Ofili, Faith Okwose, Justina Eyakpobeyan, and Success Umukoro will compete in the women’s 100m and 4x100m event.

Nigeria has a large number of medal contenders on the list, although Amusan’s status is yet unknown to the AFN.

Since the hurdler failed three drug tests this year, the Athletics Integrity Unit provisionally suspended her one month before the championships, casting doubt on her eligibility to compete.

The AIU additionally disclosed that there will be a hearing on her case before the World Championships with only 10 days left until this year’s competition. Additionally, she pledged to refute the accusations and prove her innocence, but nothing has come of the procedures yet

The federal government has been told to stop the operations of the cryptocurrency exchange company, Binance in Nigeria in order to strengthen the naira.

The call was made by the president of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday.

He suggested that the operations of Binance is one of the factors putting pressure on the naira and needs to be stopped.

“If you know about Binance, you will know that Binance trading is becoming the anchorage of both the investors and exporters window and the parallel market, which is unfortunate, ” Gwadabe said.

“So, we have to do something that can stop Binance. It’s a competition; we need to ban Binance and the only way to do so is if we have liquidity.

“As I speak, Binance is the most liquid market. They do about 1.2 million transactions per second. So it’s a very liquid market but that is not a scary status, we can break it through our local content and peculiarities.

“So we are seeing a scenario where optimism is giving way to pessimism, investors are not coming, Nigerians don’t have confidence in the market and we have to look for external finances that are coming in as a quick fix, ” Gwadabe added.

There’s A Lot Of Pressure On The Naira
Speaking further, the ABCON president said the naira is facing a lot of pressure and it’s something the current government inherited but action needs to be taken which is the objective of the unification of the exchange rate.

“There is a lot of pressure on the naira from foreign exchange hoarding by the banks and oil companies.

“Is it Nigerians that want to pay school fees, roundtripping, speculations, among others? All these galvanised, to put pressure on the naira.

“Spike and volatility did not start now, it’s something the present government inherited and has gone a long way in checking illegal behaviours around the foreign exchange market and that is the objective of the unification,” he said.

Naija News recalls the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria in June 2023, said Binance Nigeria was not registered, making its operations in the country illegal.

Former United States President Donald Trump has announced that he will carry out the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he wins the 2024 presidential polls.

Trump who drew a parallel to the Eisenhower-Howard model while speaking at his campaign event in New Hampshire on Tuesday, August 8, expressed his intent to deploy state, local, federal, and military resources to address immigration concerns.

He said;

“I will immediately terminate all the open border policy of the Biden administration. Our country is being invaded. Following the Eisenhower model, we will use 'all necessary state, local, federal, and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

In 2019, when he was the US president, Trump threatened to deport millions of people living in the US illegally. In June 2019, he promised that his administration “will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in.”

Donald Trump has already been indicted on felony charges for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the US Capitol, with the Justice Department acting to hold him accountable for an unprecedented effort to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power and threaten American democracy.

The former US President who claimed that the charges are “politically motivated”, kept up his attacks on special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday, August 8, vowing to continue talking about his criminal cases even as prosecutors sought a protective order to limit the evidence that Trump and his team could share.

The pairing of Godwin Obaseki as governor and Philip Shaibu as his deputy was a combination that was doomed to fail. Today, those who predicted it have been proven right. The relationship between the Edo State governor and his deputy has broken down ahead of next year’s governorship election in the Southsouth state. Shaibu might eventually be impeached before 2024, according to reliable sources. The sources said former Governor Adams Oshiomhole was probably more concerned about winning the 2016 governorship election when paired both of them. They told our reporter that they had foreknowledge that the pairing of Obaseki and Shaibu was incompatible.

This is not farfetched. Obaseki and Shaibu are from different backgrounds. They served in the administration of former Governor Oshiomhole in different circumstances. Obaseki, a technocrat, was the head of the economic team. He was later referred to as the ‘software’ that powered the successes of Oshiomhole as governor. Shaibu, on the other hand, was a former president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and a lawmaker. As a member of the Edo State House of Assembly, he ensured a smooth relationship between his colleagues in the legislative chamber and the executive arm of government.

Shaibu was a key ally of former Governor Oshiomhole; he assisted the latter to fight against the then formidable Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers who refused to pass the 2009 budget. The budget was eventually approved inside the bedroom of the late Chief Tony Anenih who was then godfather of Edo politics, after many projects were tinkered with. It was in February 2010 that Shaibu and other lawmakers elected on the platform of the then-ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) fought and drove out their PDP counterparts. Though he was a member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Shaibu was widely regarded as the de facto deputy governor to Oshiomhole. He had already won his election to represent his constituency at the House of Representatives in 2015 when he was nominated by Oshiomhole to be the running mate to Obaseki in the 2016 governorship election.

The nomination of Shaibu, the political ‘son’ of Oshiomhole as deputy to Obaseki was perceived by many as a ploy by the then-outgoing governor to have a firm grip on the administration of Obaseki. The first signal that the relationship was doomed to fail reared its head in 2017 when Governor Obaseki was to present his first budget. Shaibu was said to have refused to be present at the budget presentation because he was not carried along in the preparation of the budget and was not conversant with its full content. It was said that Oshiomhole had to intervene before he agreed.

However, it was the preparation for the APC primary ahead of the 2019 general elections that further strengthened the relationship between Shaibu and Obaseki and pitched them against Oshiomhole who had become the party’s national chairman. The two sides disagreed over the choice of candidates for both the National Assembly and the state assembly. Oshiomhole used his position as national chairman to substitute the names of candidates that emerged at the primaries before submitting the list to the election management body in Abuja. Those who had secured the party’s ticket with the backing of both Obaseki and Shaibu were replaced, particularly for the state House of Assembly election. That singular action of Oshiomhole united Obaseki and Shaibu and it snowballed to the 2020 governorship election when the former governor denied them the party’s return ticket. Shaibu, who pitched a tent with Obaseki against his ‘father’, was vehement in his opposition to Oshiomhole’s plan to emerge the new godfather of Edo politics. When Obaseki secured the PDP ticket to run for a second term, following his humiliation out of the APC, he insisted on running with Shaibu despite pressure from the PDP leaders that he should pick a deputy from within the so-called legacy PDP.

Shaibu, regarded as a loyal deputy, was given various responsibilities. He was placed to oversee revenue generation. He was also in charge of sports and youth empowerment.

But, the outcome of the recent general elections where the PDP performed abysmally in Edo State is believed to be the beginning of the sour relationship between Obaseki and Shaibu. Party sources said it was a signal to Obaseki to take charge ahead of the governorship election.

Some top government officials who do not wish to be named said Shaibu didn’t expect the governor to turn against him. They said it was shocking for Shaibu to learn in July, through a letter from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) that ministries, including local government councils, have been directed to liaise with the Mr. Governor in matters concerning internally generated revenue, instead of the deputy governor.

A close aide to Obaseki said the governor decided to cut the excesses and powers of Shaibu ahead of the September local government elections and the forthcoming governorship primary. He added that the governor is also deploying other tactics, including ensuring proper protocols were observed by Shaibu. It was all calculated to frustrate Shaibu’s quest to succeed his boss. Shaibu’s supporters said Obaseki should support his deputy as payback for supporting him against Oshiomhole.

Government officials said the governor has advised his deputy to allow them to focus on governance and play politics at the appropriate time. They said the governor was not in support of Shaibu’s ambition to succeed him and that the decision has to do with the subsisting power rotation or zoning arrangement in the state. Edo Central is favoured to produce the next governor. So, Shaibu who is of Estako extraction from Edo North is not suitable, in the governor’s opinion, for the party’s ticket. The argument put forward was that Oshiomhole, the current lawmaker representing Edo North is of Estako extraction and that the minister-designate, Abubakar Momoh is also from that axis of the state. Besides, several persons of Estako extraction have served as either governor or deputy since 1999.

In addition, the source said Governor Obaseki does not believe Shaibu would continue with his plans and vision as spelt out in his 30-year development plan for the state. A boardroom guru, Asue Ighodalo, was named as Obaseki’s choice. The plan B, according to a source, is to support a powerful politician from Edo South due to the voting population to retain power in the state. The source said: “Shaibu wants to force the governor to support him at all costs. But the governor is not keying into it. The deputy governor is trying to blackmail his principal into submission and has probably forgotten how the governor warded off demands by the legacy PDP group to drop him in 2020.

“The governor has put certain pThey said the governor was not in support of Shaibu’s ambition to succeed him and that the decision has to do with the subsisting power rotation or zoning arrangement in the state. Edo Central is favoured to produce the next governor. So, Shaibu who is of Estako extraction from Edo North is not suitable, in the governor’s opinion, for the party’s ticketrotocols in place that he has earlier overlooked for the sake of peace. Some of the protocols are that Shaibu must inform him before storming his office and ensuring Shaibu is stopped from entering state executive council meetings whenever he is late. Shaibu used to come late to exco meetings but the governor has put a stop to it. How can the deputy governor handle the revenue of a state? Obaseki gave him a long rope to operate but the governor is now insisting on things being properly. Shaibu has gone around the political wards in the state and set up structures without informing the governor. The governor himself is focusing on governance and cannot sacrifice other ethnic groups like the Akokos, the Owans, the Esan, to support his deputy who is from Estako.”

Shaibu, in the suit he filed seeking protection from the court to stop impeachment proceedings against him, listed several instances where he has been deprived of performing his constitutional roles. He stated that there were occasions when gates were locked against him and he was prevented from attending critical meetings. He said: “Ever since I made known my intention, the third defendant was not pleased and openly told me to jettison any idea of succeeding him in office, to which I refused and has since then become his enemy. The third defendant has been doing all he can to prevent me from carrying out my official functions as the deputy governor and has ever since refused to involve me in all matters about the state administration of which I hitherto participated and acted creditably with commendation. The office of the third defendant posted, as usual, the schedule of meetings of the governor for Monday, July 17, 2023.

“Amongst the meetings for that day was the one scheduled for 11:00 am with HOLGAs, bankers, technical partners, EIRS and Edo-GIS – which was to hold at the State Executive Chambers. Before the appointed time at the Exco Chambers, all the named persons and bodies, including the deputy governor and the SSG, were all seated. The said meeting for 11:00 am at the State Executive Council Chambers however never held as the third defendant did not come to the chambers for the meeting, but the attendees, except the deputy governor, were invited into the Governor’s Office by the Chief of Staff to Mr. Governor for discussion and dispersed from there.

“Since that day, the Office of the Deputy Governor has not been receiving any schedule of the meetings and events of the third defendant, contrary to the existing practice and procedure in Government House. On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, it was when briefs for the State Executive Council Meetings were forwarded to my (Personal Private Secretary) that I knew that there would be an Exco meeting that day at 11:00 am for the meeting at 10:00 am as no schedule of Mr, Governor was sent to my office as it used to be.

“On Friday, July 21, 2023, at about 3:45 pm, I was going for an engagement outside the office when my Protocol Officer called the Chief Detail to inform him that there was going to be Security Meeting at 4:00 pm as I saw Security Officers and Commanders in the Government House premises which placed me on enquiry and I got to know of it. On June 15, 2023, I was informed that there was going to be a meeting in the third defendant’s house to determine the leadership of the House of Assembly, but when I got to the gate of the third defendant’s house, the State Security personnel informed me that I was not invited to the meeting and would not be allowed into the meeting. I called the third defendant about eight times on the phone, but he refused to pick up my calls.

“The following day, June 16, 2023, when I was to go to the Governor’s Office, I met the gate between the two offices locked and on enquiry, the DSS personnel from the Governor’s Office told my DSS personnel that they were under instruction from the third defendant not to allow me in or open the gate for me. While trying to know what happened, there was a meeting at the instance of the former deputy governor, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, between the third defendant, myself and Chief Mike Oghiadomhe.

“At the meeting, the third defendant alleged that the reasons for his actions were that I was dining with his enemies and that the only way our relationship can come back to what it used to be was for me to go to the public space (media) to renounce my interest in the forthcoming governorship election. Despite the intervention of well-meaning stakeholders, including the Oba of Benin, the third defendant is hell-bent on dealing with me and has vowed to use all machinery at his disposal to remove me from office as the deputy governor of Edo State.”

A public affairs analyst, Dennis Osaretin said the resort to using the court as Shaibu is currently doing at a time when there was practically nothing to be scared about gives the deputy governor away as a man haunted by his demons. He said: “Come to think of it, during the administration of Chief Lucky Igbinedion between 1999 and 2007, the deputy governor at the time was Chief Mike Oghiadomhe from Etsako; he did eight years. Then came Comrade Adams Oshiomhole from Etsako West as governor; he did another eight years. This was followed by Comr. Philip Shaibu, from Etsako West as deputy governor; is almost completing another eight years.

“Does Shaibu, therefore, think that it is fair and equitable for him to become Edo’s next governor, particularly when he is from the same Etsako West where the immediate past governor is from? Are there no other competent hands from other ethnic groups? What happens to the people from Owan East and Owan West, Akoko-Edo and the Esans? Are they not part of Edo State? If these people are constantly disenfranchised by Edo South and Etsako people, would the consequences not be dire? Shaibu must be called to order to temper his ambition with reason.”

Some lawmakers in the Edo Assembly who spoke to our reporter have denied any plot yet to impeach Shaibu.

However, Governor Obaseki has been victorious in all his political wars since he emerged as governor. Obaseki holds all the aces against his Shaibu. He is expected to carry out more decisive actions to make Shaibu merely resume office to be reading newspapers daily.

On his part, Shaibi has never displayed cowardice since his days as a students’ union leader. Political analysts believe he would get the needed support to keep the loyalty of his supporters, especially those appointed by Governor Obaseki. One thing is certain, according to a top government source; Shaibu will not last as deputy governor till 2024.