Edo State deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, has denied being served with an impeachment notice from the state House of Assembly, as alleged by the speaker, Hon. Blessing Agbebaku during plenary on Monday.
The inability of the House, according to the speaker, to physically serve Shaibu led to a substituted service through advertorial in the newspaper.
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But in a letter addressed to the speaker, Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, Edo State House of Assembly, dated March 12, 2024, titled “RE: SERVICE OF IMPEACHMENT NOTICE,” signed by the Personal Assistant to the deputy governor, Charles Olubayo, Shaibu denied ever being served any letter, let alone refusing to collect.
He said he has been out of the state since March 3rd and therefore could not have been served as claimed during plenary.
He said, “The Office of the Deputy Governor, Edo State, wishes to 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, Comrade Philip Shaibu through the 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 surprised that the House resolved to publish the impeachment notice in the Observer and other national dailies because ‘the deputy governor refused to acknowledge the earlier impeachment notice sent to him through the clerk of the House.’ One therefore wonders where the clerk or his appointee served him the impeachment notice and he refused to acknowledge it.
“That neither the Clerk nor any person sent an 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 yesterday’s plenary to avoid misrepresentation in this all-important matter.”