***His fight to the church is against his deputy, Philip Shaibu -Sources
By Ben Ogbemudia, Abuja
In order to further crumble the Governorship ambition of his deputy, Philip Shaibu, the Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki at the weekend took the fight to the government house Chaplain as he ordered the security agencies to kick him out of the government house premises.
A close ally of Governor Godwin Obaseki who is seriously bitter about the whole political fight and the ill treatment the Governor and his close associate are carrying out against Comrade Philip Shaibu said the governor deliberately ordered the closure of the church just because of his deputy.
The Governor’s ally who doesn’t want his name in print said since 2016 Obaseki became the Governor of Edo state, he has never attended the church except his Deputy who worship every Tuesday in the chapel.
Our sources who said the governor excuse of going to carry out renovations of the church was just a ruse as the church is currently in perfect condition.
“You see, the governor is my close person, but all this fight against Philip Shaibu is very unnecessary. I attend this government house church every Tuesday, Philip Shaibu is the key person attending this church. I could remember when the chairs, Air Conditioners and the roof were all bad , Philip Shaibu used his overhead to fix the church. Where was the governor then? How many months remaining in Obaseki’s administration? Because of Governorship Election, Obaseki is fighting everyone including a Reverend Father Andrew Obinyan, the Chaplain of the Edo State Government House in Benin City. So, he is the latest casualty of the power play in Osadebey Avenue where the edifice is situated.
It was gathered that Father Obinyan, who has been the government house chaplain for more than eight years now, had been earlier given hints by the powers that be in the state that his new found love for political power whereby he has openly confessed that he is destined to succeed incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki on November 12th, is not in tune with what is in the offing.
And in this wise he has been under the searchlight to confirm if he was playing, acting or serious with his dream. When it was confirmed that he was not acting a comedy script a message was said to have been passed to him that he together with his team (church workers) should pack their baggages, equipment and other materials and exit Osadebey Avenue.
“But when it seemed that he was reluctant no to obey the instruction he was given, the security personnel inside the government house were detailed to pack his things out of the place.
“Father Obinyan, who also doubles as the Parish Priest of St. Francis Catholic Church in Ekenwa, a suburb of Benin City, had no choice but to join in the process of the packing out of the government house Friday, January 19th.”
Meanwhile, gist is that Governor Obaseki will in days to come go further to take some drastic actions against those opposed to his game of godfatherism as the latest signals from the national hierachy of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) is that his choice of a successor should not be forced on other party members.