Featured
Opinion: Akin Osuntokun At 60- Reuben Abati
Published
2 years agoon
By
Editor
By Reuben Abati
My good friend, Akin Osuntokun is 60. He was actually 60 on November 24, but it is this week that friends and family are rolling out the drums to celebrate one of the finest persons that I know. On November 24, we had gathered at his residence, at the invitation of Ronke, his wife, and the Osuntokun family but that was just a family event. This week, Akintola Osuntokun gets the public celebration that he truly deserves. Sometimes I forget how and when he and I met and I must have given varying accounts over the years. But the main recollection imprinted in my brain is that I got to know him when I was a graduate student at the University of Ibadan. I was Secretary-General of Obafemi Awolowo Hall. Ronke Ajibade, now Mrs. Osuntokun, was a graduate student. She lived in Awo Hall. Akin used to come around to “disturb” her. As Secretary-General of the Hall, I was something of a village gossip. I knew a lot more about every little affair.
I had completed my Ph.D. thesis, but my teachers would not let me go. They wanted me to teach and give back to the Department, having completed my studies with the University’s Scholarship. I eventually got drawn into students’ politics. I already knew Akin Osuntokun by reputation before I met him. He was one of those young men in those days who wrote prolifically on the pages of Nigerian newspapers. In the 80s and early 90s, young men of our generation were more interested in ideas. We were brought up by good teachers. In ABU, Ife, UNILAG, UNN, and the University of Ibadan, we had a set of academics who promoted nothing else but ideas and who became role models for younger persons. The big debate then was about Marxism and Capitalism, and some of the leading polemicists included Wole Soyinka, Biodun Jeyifo, Ropo Sekoni, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Dipo Fashina, Edwin and Bene Madunagu, Eskor Toyo, Tunde Fatunde, Chidi Amuta, Bala Usman, Bade Onimode, Femi Osofisan, Bode Sowande, Segun Osoba, Festus Iyayi. Many of us wanted to be like them. We wore jeans and batik. We mouthed revolutionary slogans. We looked down on anybody that looked like a coxcomb as a potential idiot.
We could quote major texts in epistemology and 20th Century ideas. The newspapers provided a watering hole for our teachers and the students who learnt at their feet. Akin and I belonged to this generation of students learning to be like the masters. We too wrote essays and whenever we met, we engaged each other. We were not very popular with all the girls. Very few girls wanted to date anyone sounding like a textbook or parroting the thoughts of poor people as gospel truth. But Akin won Ronke’s attention. When I eventually left university teaching and relocated to Lagos, it turned out that Ronke’s family, the Ajibades lived within the Oke Ira axis and I was also not far away. I used to follow Akin on his many trips to the neighbourhood. I don’t know how they do it these days, but in our time, you couldn’t just go to a man’s house to visit his daughter. You would ask a friend to accompany you, make it look like you were just a harmless, innocent, classmate just passing by. I hear these days, some suitors are invited by prospective mothers-in-law, served food and they share drinks with the would-be father-in-law and given a VIP reception. Many of such boys come in and out until the family loses count. No responsible family would allow that kind of behaviour from suitors or male friends of their daughters in our time. The Ajibades and the Osuntokuns are both from Oke-Imesi, in the present Ekit State, so that also meant a long history and the need to respect spaces. I was happy to tag along to occasionally support my friend.
I ended up proposing the toast at their wedding many years later at the University of Lagos where the event was held. I remember that wedding because it fell on a day I was to write an examination paper at the Faculty of Law, Lagos State University (LASU). I missed the exam. Now this week, many years later, I have chosen to miss another commitment, to deliver the special public lecture in honour of Akin Osuntokun holding at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIIA) as he celebrates his 60th birthday.
But there is nothing that is ever too much to do for Akin Osuntokun. He would do more if the shoes were on the other side. He is generous, kind-hearted and dependable. He is one of those friends you have, you just simply can’t do without. He is ever so considerate, extremely adept at managing relationships and networks. I don’t know how he does it. You would think the cell phone was invented for him. He likes to organize, mobilize and pursue results. And he thinks and writes. For more than 30 years, he has written extensively on issues of national interest. I met him through his many writings, and we later had the opportunity of working together on the Editorial Board of The Guardian Newspapers. Before The Guardian, he had written for Vanguard and other newspapers and had chalked up a reputation as a very analytical mind with a capacity to deliver thoughtful, well-researched essays on key national issues. Mr. Alex Ibru, our publisher took an instant liking to him. Nigeria was going through a tumultuous moment: the dust over the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election had not yet settled, there was crisis in the Niger Delta, the military establishment was dangerously overstretching its luck, locally and internationally, with its abuse of human rights and processes. In addition to his work as an editorial writer and columnist, Akin Osuntokun was given the additional responsibility of doing a regular summary and analysis of key political issues for Mr. Alex Ibru: publisher of The Guardian, the man who gave people like me and many others the opportunity to grow. Mr. Ibru had one talent: he could spot talent from a thousand miles away. And he would pick you up and groom you and challenge you to excel. Akin has always had a passion for politics. He believes that it is politics and the art of leadership that can save society. His best moments are when he discusses politics or you allow him to organize or midwife a political process.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that there is a genetic side to this. Osuntokun used to talk about a certain progenitor, his grandfather or great grandfather who led his family from Ajase Ipo in the present Kwara State, to Okemesi where the family settled. The said Osuntokun pater familia fought in the Ekiti Parapo, Jalumi and Kiriji wars and was one of the chief lieutenants of Isola Fabunmi of Oke Imesi. Professor A. I. Akinjogbin has given an excellent and authoritative account of War in Yorubaland in the 19th Century, in a book of the same title but Akin Osuntokun’s progenitor’s role in that phase of Yoruba history is something that gives him feelings of pride and authenticity. He sees himself as a reincarnation, a man with a biological mandate to pursue public causes in the people’s interest. His father was also a major influence. By the time Akin Osuntokun was born in 1961, intra-ethnic wars in Yorubaland had ended, at least for a while- Ife-Modakeke was still many years in the distance, but his father, Oduola Osuntokun and his siblings had given the family name a contemporary edge. Oduola Osuntokun was one of the first stars in the then Western Region to graduate from the famous Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. He was also a superstar educationist, an outstanding school Principal. He ended up in politics and became a Minister in the Western Region under the Obafemi Awolowo Government. He was a Chieftain of the Action Group.
But when the fight between the Premier of the Western Region, Obafemi Awolowo and his Deputy, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) occurred, the late Oduola Osuntokun pitched his tent with the latter. This has since turned out to be a big event in the history of the Osuntokun family. It was in the midst of that politics that Akin was born. His father named him after SLA. Akin is in full: Akintola Osuntokun. His father named his son after Akintola just in case anyone was in doubt about where he stood. Akin Osuntokun has had cause to publish a book on Oduola Osuntokun’s side of the politics of the era titled Oduola Osuntokun: My View of the Coin, written by the man himself. But it would not be appropriate for us to take sides. The other weight on Akintola Osuntokun’s shoulder is that he comes from a family of major figures in Nigerian history. One of his father’s brothers is on record as being one of the most brilliant Nigerian scientists ever produced. Professor Benjamin Oluwakayode Osuntokun, MD, Ph.D, DSc. (1935 -1995) was one of the best and the brightest of his time. He was a researcher on tropical neurology, atxic neuropathy to be specific, the man who was known for Osuntokun’s sign, and a Gold Medallist in Medicine.
But he was not the only man of prodigious talent in the family. Akin Osuntokun used to tell me that his father used to challenge his brothers to do more and excel. Another uncle has been no less distinguished. The historian: Professor Akinjide Osuntokun, Emeritus Professor, former University Vice-Chancellor, former Ambassador of Nigeria to Germany, author of many seminal books including Nigeria in the First World War, Chief S. Ladoke Akintola: his Life and Times, Power Broker: A Biography of Sir Kashim Ibrahim, History of the Peoples of Lagos State and others. Akin Osuntokun practically follows in the footsteps of his fathers, and of all the members of the younger generation of Osuntokuns that I know, he has been the most dedicated in that regard, combining every strand of every family heritage into an impressive persona: the warrior, the intellectual, the political man of action.
He used to look very lithe. He has managed over the years to maintain a good frame. I attribute that to his obsession with physical exercise. He likes to jog in the morning; for many years he maintained a strict schedule. But no one should be fooled by his appearance. Osuntokun sees himself as a warrior. He was once Basorun of OkeMesi. He is now the Balogun of Okemesi, the war commander of Oke Mesi, the title once held by the legendary and inimitable Fabunmi. On his birthday, on November 24, Osuntokun danced, most of the time to the Balogun beat: the traditional, drum sequence that calls out the Balogun of Okemesi, to remind him that it was time to go to war. As the beats rolled out of the spherical-shaped drums in responsorial, antiphonal rhythm, supplied by a team that looked like they came all the way from the village to serenade their Balogun, Osuntokun the son stepped out. His uncle, Professor Akinjide Osuntokun also stepped forward. I laughed. No level of education can displace genetics, or stop these people my Egba progenitors refer to as Ara Oke from being who they are. A family of warriors. But the nature of the war has since changed.
Akin Osuntokun, the celebrant, fights his wars today, in the public arena, using his pen and mouth to express ideas and to pursue political causes. He introduced me to politics. I used to think politics was a special calling for people looking for a quick way to be relevant. But sometime in the 90s, Osuntokun came up with the idea that we, the young people of Nigeria, must not leave leadership and politics to the older generation who had failed everyone. He set up what became known as the Progressive Action Movement (PAM), a platform for young people who wanted to take over Nigeria and make a difference. Akin used to argue that nobody would ever come to your house to invite you to join politics. You must show interest. I did. We met regularly and we formed a strong network that attracted support and attention. Opeyemi Agbaje, Toyin and Debola Fagbayi (we held many meetings in their house in Apapa, and they provided good refreshments), Segun Awolowo, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (as he then was), Dotun Oni, Ado Sanusi, Femi Fani-Kayode. Osuntokun used to live then in Wemabod Estate, off Adeniyi Jones in Ikeja. We met in his compound. Ado Sanusi lived next door, and sometimes we held events in Ado’s house. Their wives were always ever so accommodating. We grew into a big family of young Nigerians who wanted to change the country.
Some of us ended up in government. Quite a number became big men and women in politics. Akin Osuntokun has been active since then in the public arena and has acquired significant experience as a party man, strategist, political mobilizer, and more importantly as a public intellectual. He has served as Chairman of Oodua Printing Corporation, and Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He was a Political Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo. A loyal party man and a die-hard PDP politician, Osuntokun was the Director of the PDP 2007 Presidential Campaign, the campaign that brought President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to power. He has remained one of the most consistent voices of reason in the public arena. He is a member of the Editorial Board of ThisDay newspaper and a regular columnist with the same newspaper.
I am very proud of him and what he has been able to achieve since those early days when we all had no ideas about tomorrow. Osuntokun can argue though. When he is upset, you don’t want to be around him. The other day, at a meeting of the Ooni Caucus, which he coordinates, even the Ooni had to struggle to get him to calm down. But he is an all-round jolly good fellow. And he has learnt, over the years, not to give Ronke any undue stress. I will not speak further on that, please… Okunrin Meta!
Remarkably, he is a good citizen. The vastness of his contribution to politics and leadership is guided by a commitment to a narrative of optimism and possibilities. He is a stout promoter of the firm belief that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. He is above all a gentleman and one of the finest ambassadors of Okemesi and the Yoruba race. Where are these Okemesi drummers? Beat the drums and let the Balogun dance… A man whom you can’t eulogize without speaking about a part of your own life is not a friend but a brother… Enjoy your birthday, Balogun. Congratulations.
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Featured
Mambilla, Obasanjo & the Scapegoat Mentality
Published
1 day agoon
September 23, 2023By
Eric
By Dr Olu Agunloye
PREAMBLE
In August 2022, Mr Simon Kolawole first released his widely circulated contract-statement: “Who will Love this Country?” as front page of the ThisDay Newspapers of 21 August 2022 and again in August 2023, acting on the instructions of a former Minister of Power. The contract-statement is misleading, false, and malicious. It is calculated to divert attention from the wrongdoings of some former Power Ministers and other Government officials in respect the Mambilla Power Project. In 2022, I ignored the write-up but now that the former President has reacted to the same article that he appeared not to have seen in 2022, I will give a measured response.
THE CABLE NEWS STORY
The Cable News story credited to Pa Obasanjo about the Mambilla Power Project gave me much concern not because they were incorrect, but because they were attributed to our Baba Agbalagba, broadly revered in Yorubaland and a former President of Nigeria. For me, as a thoroughbred Omoluabi of Yorubaland, I can only politely say with all due respect: Baba, ko ri be, sa. (meaning, Baba, that is not correct, sir). That’s so much response to our revered Baba Agbalagba.
But to Pa Obasanjo as the former president, I will give fuller response here, albeit politely and in a measured dose. I served under this great former President for four years (1999 – 2003) first, as Special Assistant to the Minister of Power and Steel, then to the Minister of Justice and Honourable Attorney General of the Federation (Uncle Bola Ige) and later, as Honourable Minister of Defence (Navy), then Honourable Minister of Power and Steel. I also worked closely under him from 2003 to 2007 as the Head of the National eGovernment Strategies, mainstreaming e-enabled techniques, and applications to tiers of Government at the Federal and State levels.
Let me start by reacting to Pa Obasanjo as former President who told the story to The Cable News of how a shrewd Animal Farm Manager General (AFMG) set an elaborate system in the farm under his watch to ensure that only rats, mice, and small rodents could wander past the robust farm fence, but rabbits, antelopes, and other bigger animals needed the AFMG to open special gates for them to go out. The story explained how the AFMG ran the farm with iron hands for eight years that all and sundry applauded him. Then, after twenty years, the AFMG realised that six big elephants had, without his knowing, passed through the rodent holes that he installed to block bigger animals. Pa Obasanjo also narrated how the AFMG, now in his retirement, became furious and desperately wished he had found out this negligence during his stewardship so that he could sack the Farm Assistant who let elephants escape through the rodent holes. I felt disappointed and ashamed to find that the Animal Farm Manager General was, indeed, our most revered Baba Agbalagba, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President himself. I still wonder if The Cable News reported him correctly.
In fact, I wish to say with all humility and respect that all the things credited to the former President in the extensive interview in The Cable News are not correct. Take for instance, The Cable News quoted Pa Obasanjo as saying: “…When I was in office, Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power, ran away from Nigeria. I would have jailed him.” This is far from being correct because Mr. Leno Adesanya was virtually always in the Aso Rock Villa during Chief Obasanjo’s presidency. As a matter of fact, the same president and Mr. Adesanya sat together on the high table in Aso Rock as Baba Oko and Baba Iyawo respectively at the wedding of the president’s son and Mr. Adesanya’s niece in 2002.
THE TRUTH ABOUT MAMBILLA
Let me briefly put the records straight on the Mambilla Power Project.
1. When the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, sent an emissary, in person of his close young associate who is a Labour Party (LP) Chieftain to me on 26 August 2023 to discuss the Mambilla Power Project, I knew the former president was getting pretty anxious. My last encounter with the former President was in late last year, 2022 and early this year (2023) when the former President was frantically persuading leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), of which I am the National Secretary, to team up with and support the then Presidential Candidate Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). We declined and turned down the entreaties of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on behalf of the Labour Party, LP.
2. Seven days later, on the 3 September 2023, The Cable News reported an extensive interview, https://www.thecable.ng/obasanjo-i-knew-buhari-didnt-understand-economics-but-didnt-know-he-was-a-reckless-spender/amp, granted by the former President titled: “I knew Buhari didn’t understand economics but didn’t know he was so reckless.” In this interview, the former president made misleading and incorrect statements on the Mambilla Power Project.
3. I have submitted a 53 paragraph, 14-page Statement backed with 15 Attachments in 82-page document as an affidavit to the courts in Nigeria and France in respect of the Mambilla Power Project to clear my name. In deference to Pa Obasanjo and as a mark of great respect to the former President, I have sent a copy of these documents through my lawyers to him to refreshen his memory.
4. The former president was not correct when he referred to the award to Sunrise simply as a $6 billion contract (that is, N800 billion in 2003) under his watch. In truth, it was a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract in which the FGN did not need to pay any amount to the contractor, Messrs Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (Sunrise). As a matter of fact, Sunrise has not been paid a single Naira or Dollar by the FGN from 2000 till date (14/9/23). Sunrise was to source for funds and execute the project with own funds. The investment of Sunrise to construct the Mambilla hydroelectric project up to completion stage to deliver electricity was adjudged at a maximum of $6 billion by four Ministers of Power and the former president (Chief Obasanjo) before I became Minister of Power. Sunrise was to recoup his investment from the sale of the generated electricity over a 30- to 40-year period at pre-determined tariffs, also agreed with FGN before May 2003.
5. I followed due process and got all necessary approvals for the BOT contract award to Sunrise on 22 May 2003 and there are records to show that the former President Obasanjo propelled the processes from the beginning in 2000 to the end in May 2003. In fact, Sunrise started Mambilla project three years before I became Minister of Power and had arranged meetings with Chinese Companies and Chinese President in China in which three Power Ministers and the then President Obasanjo attended between 2000 and 2002 before I was appointed Minister of Power. On the very day (28 Nov 2002), that I resumed office as Minister of Power, Pa Obasanjo himself, in a formal letter, handed me his presidential approval on the Sunrise proposal with an instruction that Sunrise be invited “for the final negotiations for the execution of the Mambilla Power Project.”
NO ONE QUERIED ME FOR 20 YEARS
The following played out after I had ceased to be a minister from 29 May 2003. It turned out that (a) Between 2003 to 2007, President Obasanjo was attempting to invalidate the Sunrise May 2003 BOT contract on Mambilla Project; and (b) Between 2007 to 2015, the Yar’Adua and Jonathan presidencies recognised the Mambilla Project as a BOT contract validly awarded in May 2003, cancelled the component of it awarded as a procurement contract by President Obasanjo on the 28 May 2007 at $1.46 billion, and signed a fresh agreement on the Mambilla Hydropower Project in 2012 with Sunrise and (c) Between 2015 to 2023, the then President Buhari cancelled and re-awarded the Mambilla Power Project, and was making and breaching own Agreements with Sunrise. In all of these, spanning 20 (twenty) years, none of the Presidents (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Malam Musa Yar’Adua, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan or Gen. Muhammadu Buhari) asked me or questioned me about issuing any unauthorised Mambilla contract. This is because all the Nigerian Presidents, including Chief Obasanjo, were aware that I did nothing wrong.
BOT versus PROCUREMENT CONTRACT
However, at a time after May 2003, the then President Obasanjo appeared to have changed his mind on the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model in which the private investor would provide own funds, a path that President Obasanjo and six Ministers of Power, three Ministers of Finance, two Ministers of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, and the Debt Management Office had pursued for four years. The former President then chose to embark on a new pathway in which Nigeria would execute the Mambilla Power Project by paying from Government own funds.
The former President decided, therefore, to break the Mambilla Hydropower Project into smaller components, like civil engineering works, hydraulic works, structural works etc. with the intention to award them as separate multiple contracts as Government procurements, on cash and carry basis, for which Nigerian Government would pay mobilisation fees and make other payments in stages to contractors. When one of the contractors, which got a component of the Mambilla project awarded by President Obasanjo as $1.46 billion procurement contract, presented its request for a $400 million mobilisation fees, President Yar’Adua scrutinised the contract and cancelled it in 2008 because of proven corruption on the part of officials who served under President Obasanjo between 2003 to 2007.
THE CRUX OF THE CASE
Dr. Agunloye awarded the Mambilla Power Project as a BOT at no cost to FGN, while the former President Obasanjo started to re-award the project as multiple procurement contracts at humongous costs to FGN and with associated corrupt practices which were uncovered by succeeding Presidents.
WHO WILL LOVE NIGERIA?
I awarded Mambilla Power Project as BOT at no cost to Nigeria. Former President Obasanjo awarded one component part of the same Mambilla project for $1.46 billion as procurement contract, former President Jonathan signed a 2012 General Project Execution Agreement and former President Buhari and his then Minister of Power, Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola awarded another component of the Mambilla Project at a whopping $5.8 billion payable by FGN in cash. The FGN awarded, re-awarded and cancelled contracts and Agreements at will and now must face the consequences at International Arbitration Courts. The result is that the Mambilla Hydropower Project has been stalled for yet another twenty years, and the former President (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo) and others are feeling greatly uneasy about the consequences. This is why the Simon Kolawole’s question, “Who will Love the Country?” should have been addressed to his (Kolawole’s) sponsors, not me.
CONSPIRACY
Currently, some former and serving FGN officials are desperately attempting to “criminalise” the Mambilla Power Project by trying to make me the scapegoat with the sole aim to avoid consequent legal contractual obligations of the Government arising from breaches of agreements with Sunrise. This “criminalisation strategy” was inadvertently exposed by Mr Simon Kolawole. The Government officials are using State Apparatus to intimidate, harass and threaten me. The EFCC invited me on 16 May 2023, 20 (twenty) years after I had ceased to be Minister of Power and grilled me for over eight hours. The Investigating Officer confronted me with “issuing a contract of $6 billion to Sunrise without authority”. That was the very first time ever that anyone had questioned me about the Mambilla Power Project, and it was because of the criminalisation conspiracy by those who actually have committed against Nigeria. The EFCC threatened that they were in possession of my Bank Statements for the last 25 (twenty-five) years. I explained my innocence and made formal statements to the EFCC. I had also sent more documents and materials to the Commission and the court after. My lawyers have sued EFCC to stop harassing me and have challenged EFCC to make public my bank accounts and charged the commission to go to court if they have any case against me.
CONCLUSION
We see that as the FGN faces the resultant consequences of breaching agreements and cancelling contracts with impunity, some former and serving Government officials, perhaps including former President Obasanjo, now want to use me as a scapegoat-victim to cover up their inappropriate practices and to evade looming fines and damages at international arbitrations.
Dr. Olu Agunloye is a Former Minster of Power and Steel
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Featured
Tinubu Not First African Leader to Ring NASDAQ Closing Bell, Presidency Apologises
Published
1 day agoon
September 23, 2023By
Eric
The Federal Government apologised on Friday for saying that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the first African President to ring the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (NASDAQ) closing bell.
Tinubu’s spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, tendered an official apology on behalf of the presidency in a statement where he said the error was regretted.
President Tinubu rang the closing bell of NASDAQ on Wednesday alongside business leaders, including the Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu.
“We inadvertently referred to President Bola Tinubu as the first African leader to ring the bell at NASDAQ on Wednesday in New York, based on the information provided by a third-party event organiser,” Ngelale said.
“We have since found out that this information was/is incorrect, as a former African leader has indeed had the privilege. This error is sincerely regretted.”
It has been revealed that a former African leader had previously rung the bell at NASDAQ, debunking the earlier claim of Tinubu’s bell-ringing, which was perceived to be a historic achievement.
They argued that in 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, while Femi Otedola’s daughter, DJ Cuppy, rang the NYSE bell in 2019.
Contrary to the claim, the former President of Tanzania, Kikwete, First Ladies and Health Ministers rang the closing bell of NASDAQ in 2011, as announced by NASDAQ in a notification to the public dated 2011 with the title, “President Kikwete of Tanzania, First Ladies and Health Ministers, and Global Health Leaders to Ring The NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell.’
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Featured
Shaibu Eats Humble Pie, Apologises to Obaseki, Says ‘I Missed My Gov’
Published
2 days agoon
September 22, 2023By
Eric
Call it the eating of a humble pie, and you may not be wring as the embattled Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, apologised to Governor Godwin Obaseki amid a face-off between them.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Benin City, Mr Shaibu appealed to Governor Obaseki to forgive his “mistakes” for them to continue to work together, Channels TV reported.
“I use this medium to appeal to Mr Governor, if there is anything that I don’t know that I have done, please forgive me so that we can develop our state together,” he said.
“We have just one year to go. We have been the envy of the entire country. So, Mr Governor, if there is anything you feel that I have done, please I am sorry. I need us to work together to finish well and strong,” the deputy governor added.
When asked if he had resumed at his new office, Mr Shaibu said, “We have resumed but there is still a lot of work to be done there.
“There is no problem about it. The governor has asked us to go there. Like I have always tried to prove, I am a loyal servant and nothing has changed.
“I took a personal vow to support my governor and you can see my Catholic people are here. When I took a vow with God, nothing can change it and I wish that the relationship that we had will come back in the next few days and weeks.”
Mr Shaibu also said he has been missing the governor since their rift began, and expressed hope that God will “touch the governor’s heart” to forgive him.
“I mean well. If there is any mistake I have made as a human, it is not out of wickedness because I know I’m not wicked. I have a very clean heart.”
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