Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of Edo State, has publicly tendered an unreserved apology to his boss, Governor Godwin Obaseki, after a feud that threatened to disrupt governance in the Niger Delta State of Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Thursday, the deputy governor, whose office was relocated to an uncompleted building, asked the governor to forgive him, urging him to set aside their differences and prioritise the affairs of the state.
“I will use this medium to appeal to Mr. Governor: if there is anything I don’t know that I have done, please forgive me, so that we can develop our state together,” Shaibu said. “We have just less than one year to go, and we have been the envy of the entire country. It is still possible. So, Mr. Governor, if there is anything I have done, I am sorry. Because I need us to work together so that we can finish well.”
Earlier in the course of his interview, he admitted that tensions between him and the governor may have gone overboard but agreed that his relationship with him has been resolved, promising to resume at the new office as soon as it is okay to work there.
He said, “We have resumed; there is no problem about it. The governor has asked us to go there, and I am going, and like I always tell people, I am a loyal servant; there is nothing that has changed.
“I took a personal vow to support my Governor, and you can see that my Catholic people are here. Everything about me, and if I have a vow with God, there is nothing that will change it. And I can only wish that the relationship that we will have in the next few days will come back.
“I am really missing my governor, and by the grace of God, I know God will touch the governor’s heart and touch all of us, and even those that are trying to be between, God will touch them.”
The relationship between Shaibu and Obaseki reached boiling point after the former was locked out of his office earlier in the week, a situation that generated so much media attention.
On the microblogging application X, formerly known as Twitter, his apology has generated some positive reactions. Godwin Akpan, a disruptive brand consultant, applauded his action, tweeting that “the humbled shall be lifted.”
While Felix @Odunzefelix1 tweeted, “Even if the apology is a political strategy covered in sincerity, it still takes a man of courage to do this.”
However, Kenneth Otene, sounding sarcastic, tweeted, “He choose the perfect day to do that…World Peace Day.”
