Kassim Afegbua, the former Commissioner for Information in Edo State, has criticized the actions of Governor Godwin Obaseki regarding the ongoing impeachment case of his deputy, Philip Shaibu.
Speaking in an interview with AIT from 1:19, Afegbua highlighted that Shaibu’s legal challenge led to a declarative court judgment, which he described as akin to a military order where one must “obey before complain.” However, Afegbua accused the state government of attempting to bypass the court’s ruling by seeking a stay of execution, which he referred to as a form of “judicial corruption.”
“Philip Shaibu as an individual went to court to challenge his impeachment, and the court gave a declarative statement. Those who are lawyers know what a declarative statement is. It’s like the military, where you say, ‘Obey before complain.’ They never wanted to obey; they are going through the back door to seek a stay of execution, which is another process of judicial corruption,” Afegbua said.
The former commissioner further claimed that the Edo State government has been largely “vacated,” insinuating that Governor Obaseki is eager to leave office. Afegbua referenced his accurate insights during the previous election, where his updates on the inner workings of the government house were later confirmed as true.
“You have to respect a declarative judgment and install him back before you can appeal. So I don’t see that statement from a government house that has already been vacated by almost everybody. The governor has eloped as he is. He can’t wait, he can’t wait to hand over. We have our ears to the ground. During the election, I was giving you blow-by-blow accounts of what was happening inside the government house. Everything I said proved to be true. They all later confirmed it,” Afegbua stated.