Governor Obaseki fingers Sarah Igunbor as source of rift with deputy

The feud between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Mr. Philip Shaibu, is lingering.

Governor Obaseki has pointedly accused Shaibu of manipulating the election of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, Edo State chapter to install Miss Sarah Igunbor.

The objective of that political gambit is to advance his ambition of becoming governor of Edo State.

Days after the charade that threw up Sarah Igunbor in the allegedly manipulated election, Governor Obaseki sacked her and dissolved the NYCN EXCO to curtail the ambition of his deputy.

The Governor also dissolved the state EXCO to further clip the wings of his deputy who he sees as over ambitious.

Reports said that Governor Obaseki’s wife, Mrs Betsy Obaseki, became miffed and uncomfortable with Sarah’s closeness to her husband and had to convince the Governor to send Sarah Igunbor packing from the leadership of NYCN and from government quarters.

The disclosure came as leaders of Edo Central Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have scolded Shaibu for approaching the court over allegations that Obaseki was about to instigate his impeachment without exhausting dispute resolution mechanisms of the party.

Obaseki made the disclosure, at the weekend, during the celebration of the International Youths Day, with youths in the state, at the Youth House, in Benin City.

Speaking at the event on the crisis that rocked the youth council, Obaseki noted that Shaibu worked behind him in an attempt to bolster his ambition through the youth council.

According to the governor, “I want to apologise over the unfortunate incident that happened with the youth council election. It was done without my authorisation and knowledge.

“As you can see now, the reason my deputy governor manipulated your election was because he has political ambition and thought he could control and use the council to achieve his political goals. Please, I apologise. Going forward, you will have an independent, well-organized and well covered transparent election.”

Commending the youths, Edo First Lady, Betsy Obaseki, said: “You are the ones we are looking up to. That is the reason we are getting involved in your affairs and life, and we are here to support you. We are expecting great things from you and we are confident that you will not disappoint us.”