Ex-PDP legal adviser counsels Shaibu over judgement reinstating him as Edo deputy governor

A former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mark Jacob, has urged former Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu not to bother returning to office despite Wednesday’s judgement reinstating him.

Mr Jacob, who appeared as a guest on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Thursday, said there was no point in Mr Shaibu returning to office given the hostile environment and redundancy that are likely awaiting him.

“He can blare his siren here and there, but he will not, in effect, be part of the government. And for me, I think politicians should respect themselves. If I was in his shoes, I would lick my wounds, go my way, take my life into my hands, and move forward,” the lawyer, a former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in Kaduna State, said.

The Edo State House of Assembly removed Mr Shaibu from office on 8 April over allegations of gross misconduct.

Governor Godwin Obaseki immediately nominated Omobayo Godwins as Mr Shaibu’s replacement. The House of Assembly confirmed Mr Godwins’ appointment, and the governor promptly swore him in as the deputy governor the same day.

However, the Federal High Court in Abuja upheld Mr Shaibu’s suit challenging his removal from office on Wednesday, holding that the allegations over which the House of Assembly removed him did not constitute acts of gross misconduct.

The court nullified Mr Shaibu’s removal and ordered his reinstatement to office.

The judge, James Omotosho, also ordered the payment of salaries and entitlements since the House of Assembly illegally removed him from office in April.

The House of Assembly has expressed its dissatisfaction with the judgment and appealed against it.

Mr Jacob recalled the humiliating treatment Mr Shaibu received in the lead-up to his removal in April.

He said the hostile environment would likely persist if Mr Shaibu takes his office back.

“If I were Shaibu, I would not have pursued this matter, honestly,” the lawyer said, adding that prior to his removal, “he was completely redundant; he was not even, at times, allowed to enter the office; he was completely out of government,” the former PDP legal advise said.

He said @they can open a door for him to sit somewhere, and for the next few months, he will be redundant,” referring to the political forces that saw to Mr Shaibu’s removal from office.

He also based his argument on the inefficiency of the Nigerian courts, where the House of Assembly’s appeal could drag on for years.

Even if Mr Shaibu were to return to office, he would leave in November, just four months before the end of his joint tenure with the governor. Given the likelihood of further appeals, it is nearly impossible for the matter to be resolved by the Supreme Court within the next year if any aggrieved party chooses to pursue the full judicial process after the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled 21 September for the next governorship election in the state.

Mr Jacob urged Mr Shaibu to abandon the idea of returning to office after making a statement with his successful legal battle against his removal.

Obaseki and Shaibu’s political feud

Mr Shaibu’s removal last April was the peak of the political feud between him and Governor Obaseki.

The feud stemmed from Shaibu’s ambition to succeed Mr Godwin, who preferred a different person from another region of the state, which he considered better suited to the zoning arraignment in the state to succeed him.

Both men, once allies, have become adversaries.

Their re-election in 2022 was largely due to the strong alliance they formed against their former benefactor, Adams Oshiomhole, who had supported their rise to office in 2016 but fell out with Mr Obaseki before the end of Obaseki’s first term.

As the 2022 election approached, they were compelled to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC), which Mr Oshiomhole then chaired at the national level, and to seek their re-election on the PDP platform. This move was driven by Mr Oshiomhole’s opposition to their candidacy as the APC’s flagbearers.

They contested for a second term and won on the PDP platform.

But no sooner had they settled down for the second term than Mr Shaibu’s ambition to succeed Mr Obaseki began to draw a wedge between them.

Despite Governor Obaseki’s insistence on a successor from the Edo Central zone of the state, Mr Shaibu, who hails from Edo North, obtained the PDP governorship nomination form.

In February, the governor’s preferred candidate, Asue Ighodalo, emerged as the winner of the party’s primary election, even though Mr Shaibu declared himself the winner of a parallel poll.

Reflecting on the broken relationship during his appearance on Channels Television in November last year, Mr Shaibu said his troubles started after visiting Mr Oshiomhole to congratulate him on winning his election to the Nigerian senate last year.

“That was where my headache started because the governor’s style is that a friend of the governor, you must be (a) friend to him, and an enemy to the governor, you must be enemy to him,” Mr Shaibu, a former member of the House of Representatives who hails from the same region of the state with Mr Oshiomhole.

The conflict between the governor and Mr Shaibu fluctuated between periods of calm and intense strain until their deteriorating relationship reached a breaking point, catalysing Mr Shaibu’s removal from office by the state House of Assembly in April.

On Thursday, Mr Jacob blamed Mr Shaibu for his woes.

“His problem started when he committed class suicide – you don’t come in as a comrade and jump ship and join people who are not your political family and expect things will go well,” Mr Jacob, who served as the PDP National Legal Adviser during Uche Secondus’ tumultuous tenure as national chairman.

READ ALSO: Court reinstates Shaibu as Edo deputy governor

Need for independent legislature

Mr Jacob also criticised the way lawmakers come to office in Nigeria, saying that it often leads to legislative houses becoming mere extensions of the executive branch. He described this as a major national issue that demands urgent attention.

Still, he urged state Houses of Assembly to maintain their independence.

He also urged politicians to desist from witch-hunting one another over political differences.