Edo assembly impeaches Philip Shaibu as deputy governor

The Edo state house of assembly has impeached Philip Shaibu as deputy governor of the state. 

The impeachment followed the adoption of the report of a seven-member investigative panel.

The panel was set up by Daniel Okungbowa, chief judge of Edo, and was headed by S. A. Omonuwa, a retired justice.

Shaibu was accused of “misconduct, perjury and disclosure of government secrets”.

The commencement of the panel’s sitting followed the resolution by the state house of assembly on initiating impeachment processes against Shaibu.

Shaibu had since fallen out with Godwin Obaseki, governor of the state.

At the panel’s inaugural sitting on April 3, the house of assembly was represented by Joe Ohiafi, deputy clerk, legal.

Shaibu was represented by Oladoyin Awoyale, a professor and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

In July, Shaibu approached a federal high court in Abuja with a suit to prevent the impeachment plot against him.

He asked the court to restrain Obaseki, the speaker of the state assembly, and the chief judge, from “initiating impeachment proceedings or sanctioning any impeachment” against him.

Thereafter, the court restrained Obaseki, the speaker, and other defendants in the suit from initiating impeachment proceedings against Shaibu.

In September, Shaibu withdrew the suit he filed against Obaseki, paving the way for the proceedings which eventually sacked him from office.