The court-reinstated deputy governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, said his fight against his impeachment was to protect the deputy governor’s office in Nigeria, which he said had been ridiculed by some governors since 1999.
Shaibu told journalists after a thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Catholic Church that his reinstatement by the court was an act of God and also wants the federal government and the inspector-general of police to investigate the killing of a policeman while on his way from Benin Airport.
He said the slain policeman is an orderly to the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Monday Okpebholo.
Shaibu said, “The governor said he would destroy me, and that is why I decided to fight to bring sanity and respect back to the office of the deputy governor of Edo State.
“All these I am doing is not to earn anything but to make sure that the sanity of the office of the deputy governor is restored in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; what other deputies cannot fight, I will fight on their behalf so that governors will start respecting that office.”
On his victory in the court, he said: “I challenged God and I told Him that I want him to prove His power in my life, that anti-God people and anti-democracy are at it again and they want to use me as a scapegoat, I told God to show to the world that I am truly your son.
“They said they would impeach me, and I would go to court, and that by the time judgment comes, the tenure will have been over. I now challenged God to prove to them that they have touched His anointed and that the judgment will come faster than expected. I said I would need the judgment to come before the election.
“By the grace of God, democracy has come to stay, and we that fought for democracy will protect it; anti-democratic forces must be flushed out, and by the grace of God, we will succeed.”
Shaibu said ahead of the coming election in the state, youths should not allow themselves to be used but should vote in the election to remove “anti-democratic people” rather than allow themselves to be used for violence.
“This election is the time to change anti-democratic forces, and you must do it through the ballot. Don’t engage in violence. I have been preaching this for the past year when the intimidation and harassment against me started.”
On the attack that led to the death of a policeman, Shaibu said, “I refused to pull anybody to the streets because they were saying we know him, he will soon pull people to the streets.
“They know what they have done, and they are trying to cover up, but this one, they cannot cover it up, not when a police officer was a victim; they cannot cover this; all of them must be picked. They orchestrated it; the men of the vigilante did that.
“The vigilante in Edo State killed a policeman; the IGP must look into it; they are struggling to see who they can rope people in, but they cannot rope anybody in. I am urging the president and IG to set up an enquiry to investigate this killing, not only the killing but proscribe vigilante in Edo.”
