Members of the Edo State House of Assembly have begun the process of impeaching the Deputy Governor of the state, Philip Shaibu.

During a plenary session on Wednesday, the impeachment petition against the deputy governor was presented and read aloud to the assembly.

The Majority Leader, Charity Aiguobarueghian, who read the petition, stated that it was signed by 21 out of the 24 members of the assembly, exceeding the required two-thirds majority stipulated in Section 188 (2a) of the Nigerian Constitution.

The petition, dated March 5, 2024, was addressed to the Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku.

The Speaker acknowledged the receipt of the petition and mentioned that it was based on two undisclosed grounds.

The House granted the deputy governor a period of seven days to respond to the petition.

The Speaker instructed the clerk of the house, Yahaya Omogbai, to serve the impeachment notice to Shaibu.

Shaibu’s impeachment notice is believed to be connected to his recent conflict with Governor Godwin Obaseki, which resulted in his defeat during the recently concluded gubernatorial election primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

It should be noted that Shaibu had previously alleged a plot to impeach him from office, citing his ambition to become the governor as the motive behind the plot.

He was declared the PDP candidate in a parallel primary election held at his residence in Benin City, the state capital, while another PDP primary exercise took place at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin, resulting in Asue Ighodalo being announced as the winner.