Edo Guber: Shaibu Drags PDP, Ighodalo, Others to Court over Party Primaries

Deputy governor wasn't served impeachment notice, says aide

The Edo Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu, has dragged the party’s candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), before the Federal High Court in Abuja over the party’s primary held on February 22, 2024.

Shaibu who s currently embattled following the impeachment threat from the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA), is seeking an order of the court nullifying PDP’s declaration of Ighodalo as candidate of the party in the governorship primary election.

The deputy governor through his counsel, Doyin Awoyale (SAN) is also seeking an order of the court directing PDP to withdraw forthwith the certificate of return issued to Ighodalo, having, according to him, emerged from an invalid and unlawful governorship primary election.

He is further seeking an order of injunction restraining Ighodalo from parading himself as the duly nominated governorship candidate of the PDP in the forthcoming Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 21, 2024.

The originating summons is seeking : "An order of injunction restraining the 1st defendant (INEC) from accepting and/or recognising the name of the 4th Defendant as the governorship candidate of the 2nd Defendant in the 2024 Edo State governorship election scheduled to be conducted by the 1st Defendant (INEC) on the 21 of September 2024.

"An order of this Honourable Court restraining the all the Defendants by themselves and/agents, representatives, organs chapters, etc from tampering with and/or discarding the delegates lists that emerged from the 2nd Defendant's congresses of 4th February 2024 and 10th February, 2024 conducted by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the 2nd Defendant.

"An Order of this Honourable Court mandating the 2nd Defendant to conduct a fresh governorship primary election for the nomination of the governorship candidate for the 2nd Defendant in the 2024 Edo.”

Meanwhile, the office of the Edo State deputy governor, Shaibu has denied receipt of an impeachment notice on him.

Last Wednesday, the Edo State House of Assembly, commenced impeachment proceedings against Shaibu accusing him of perjury and leaking the government’s secrets.

However, in a letter, dated March 12, to the House of Assembly, on the issue, the Personal Assistant to the deputy governor, Charles Olubayo, chided the Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, for saying that the deputy governor refused to acknowledge the impeachment notice.

The letter read: "The Office of the Deputy Governor, Edo State wishes 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 the surprise 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," Olubayo added.