Impeachment Saga: Edo Assembly Speaker finally breaks silence

From Moshood Karim 

Speaker of the Edo House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, has shed more light on the impeachment process initiated against the Deputy Governor, Hon. Philip Shaibu. 

During a meeting with members of the Catholic Men Organization of Nigeria, Benin Province, the Speaker revealed that the decision to serve the impeachment notice was unanimously reached by 21 out of 24 members of the House. 

The group Uptown Press learned, had visited the assembly to intervene in the matter and seek a peaceful resolution.

Agbebaku expressed appreciation for the peace efforts of the Catholic Men Organization of Nigeria, Benin Province, but clarified that the decision to impeach was not solely his to make. 

He emphasized that the decision rested on all 24 members of the House, of whom 21 signed the petition. The Speaker's explanation provides a deeper understanding of the process leading to the impeachment notice and the collective involvement of the House members in the decision. 

He said: “I am the head of this assembly, made up of 24 members. However, any decision taken is what I follow.

"21 out of 24 signed and as a servant of the other 23 members, I do not have much to say,” he said.

According to him, if there is ever going to be any resolution of the issue, it will be determined by the majority of the members of the house and not him alone.

However, the Office of the Deputy Governor, on Tuesday, denied that an impeachment notice was served on the deputy governor by the state House of Assembly.

It denied the allegation made by the lawmakers on Monday that Shaibu was evading service, leading to the lawmakers’ decision to publish the impeachment notice in a daily newspaper.

Shaibu’s Personal Assistant, Charles Olubayo, in a letter recently addressed to the House of Assembly said: 

“The Office of the Deputy Governor, Edo State wishes to draw your attention to the inaccuracies and misleading information that emanated from the plenary session of Monday, March 11, 2024, wherein Mr. Speaker directed that the impeachment notice be served on the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, through newspaper publications, The Nigeria Observer, and other national dailies, ‘sequel to the refusal of the Deputy Governor to acknowledge the impeachment notice’.

“Mr. Speaker was quoted to have also stated at the said plenary that ‘The action became necessary because the Deputy Governor refused to

acknowledge an earlier impeachment notice sent to him through the Clerk of the House’.

“We wish to state categorically that no impeachment notice was ever served on the Deputy Governor, let alone refusing to acknowledge the impeachment notice.

“The Deputy Governor has since March 3, 2024, travelled out of Benin to Abuja and has not returned to Benin since the said March 3, 2024.

“The Clerk never saw the Deputy Governor whether in the Office, at home or anywhere for that matter since the said date; hence, we are surprised that the House resolved to publish the impeachment notice in the Observer and other national dailies.

“One, therefore, wonders where the Clerk or his appointee served him the impeachment notice and he refused to acknowledge it.

“Neither the Clerk nor any person sent impeachment notice to the Deputy Governor which he refused to acknowledge.

“It is therefore our prayer that Mr. Speaker corrects the impression created in the public as the outcome of Monday’s plenary to avoid misrepresentation in this all-important matter.”