Philip Shaibu yesterday said he had resumed office as Edo State Deputy Governor in line with the ruling of the Federal High Court Abuja which reinstated him.

In a broadcast, he said he had informed Governor Godwin Obaseki of his resumption and that his aides should be restored. However, he said did not get any response from the governor. Shaibu said:

“Today, I am issuing a clear directive to all staff in the Deputy Governor’s Office who have not yet reported for work to resume forthwith, failure to comply will result in appropriate sanctions.

“In line with the judgment, the office of the deputy governor was never vacant, in this regard, all transactions that would have been done in my absence, remain illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

“I want to make it known that any bank conducting business with the office of the deputy governor of Edo State without my explicit approval does so at its own risk.”

However, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation Chris Nehikhare said law enforcement agencies had been put on alert over a potential breach of peace and “are urged to hold Philip Shaibu responsible for any security breach in the state arising from his ignoble actions”.

He said: “It has come to the attention of the Edo State Government that the former Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has been carrying out correspondence with different institutions and organisations both within and outside the State in a clear case of impersonation.

“In the interest of the safety of these organizations, we want to restate that Shaibu is not the Deputy Governor of Edo State and every correspondence from him in that regard should be disregarded and considered a forgery.”