Philip Shaibu, the state’s former deputy governor, was impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly on Monday.

The report of the seven-member investigative panel that the state’s Chief Judge had constituted to look into Shaibu’s alleged misbehavior was adopted after the impeachment.

Judge S.A. Omonua (retd.) presided over the panel, which adjourned on Friday when Shaibu failed to show up.

He was investigated for allegedly having leaked government secrets and committed perjury.

The panel had adjourned until Thursday so that Shaibu could provide his defense. When he failed to do so, he was given till Friday to appear and refute the accusation made against him.

In order to allow Shaibu to refute the accusations made against him, the state assembly, the petitioner in the case, had to first open and conclude its case.

Oladoyin Awoyale, the lawyer for Shaibu, was present for the opening day session on Wednesday, but he left the room in the middle of the hearing after the panel turned down his request to pause the proceedings while Shaibu filed a lawsuit in Abuja to contest the impeachment attempt against him.

Joe Ohiafi, the Assembly’s deputy clerk, spoke for the Assembly, and Omonuwa supported their objection to the suspension request.

Ohiafi continued presenting the Assembly’s argument against Shaibu when Awoyale excused himself.

There were twenty members in the House, including Speaker Blessing Agbebaku, however only eighteen of them cast votes in favor of the impeachment, while one member did not participate.

The seven-member panel’s report about Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor, was one of the Assembly’s topics for consideration.

The deputy governor’s impeachment began with the Clerk of the House reading Order 10-Presentation and consideration of the report.

A little while later, Ovia North East 1 representative Charity Aiguobarueghan, the majority leader of the House, moved to discuss the report.

Eric Okaka, the minority leader from Owan East, seconded his motion.

Consequently, following the motion to that effect made by the Majority and Minority Leaders, the Speaker took over as head of the committee of the whole House to evaluate the report.

Donald Okogbe, Akoko-Edo II, stood up during the report’s presentation to voice his protest to Part C, but the Speaker overruled him.

The House then decided that the second accusation against the deputy governor—that he had disclosed state secrets—was true, but that the first accusation of perjury against him was unfounded.

At this point, the Speaker of the House should return to his role as Speaker of the House, according to a motion made by the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Assembly, respectively.

The Majority Leader further proposed that the report be submitted to a vote on Section 188 Subsection 9 of the Constitution.

When the votes were counted, one member abstained and 18 members supported impeachment.

Speaker Blessing Agbebaku stated that the impeachment was supported by a vote of more than two thirds of the House.

“I hereby, from my seat, announce that the deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, stands impeached,” he declared.

Remember that on March 28, Justice I. E. Ekwo issued an order to the respondents, who included the State Security Service, the Inspector General of Police, Justice S. A. Omonua (retd.), the chairman of the impeachment panel, and three members of the seven-member panel appointed by the fourth defendant, the Edo State Chief Judge, and the House of Assembly, directing them to appear in court on April 8 to provide justification for not granting the injunction to maintain status pending the hearing and resolution of the Originating Motion on Notice.

According to reports, Godwin Obaseki, the state governor, and Shaibu have been at odds ever since the governor declined to publicly endorse the deputy governor’s bid for governor.

The effort to impeach the deputy governor last week resulted from this.

Shaibu served Obaseki and the House of Assembly an originating summons in the lawsuit as part of his attempt to prevent his impeachment proceedings.

Shaibu was able to get the governor’s summons delivered by courier, despite the fact that the bailiff had already been sent away by Government House security.

The summons was successfully pasted at the state House of Assembly’s entry by the bailiff as well.

However, Shaibu’s impeachment process, which was started by the Edo State House of Assembly, was not stopped by the Federal High Court in Abuja.