Obaseki made the revelation at the weekend during the celebration of International Youths Day, with youths in the state, at the Youth House, in Benin City.
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has alleged that his deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, manipulated the election of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Edo State chapter, to install an Executive Council (EXCO) to advance his selfish ambition of becoming the state governor.
Obaseki made the revelation at the weekend during the celebration of International Youths Day, with youths in the state, at the Youth House, in Benin City.
The emergence of the immediate past state chapter of NYCN EXCO had sparked controversy among youth groups in the state as various interest groups protested against the imposition of persons on the organisation and its organs. It took the intervention of the governor, who immediately moved to disband the EXCO and call for fresh elections, to restore order and sanity to the council.
Speaking on the crisis that rocked the youth council, Obaseki alleged that Shaibu worked behind his back in an attempt to fester his ambition through the youth council.
The governor said, "I want to apologise over the unfortunate incident that happened with the youth council election. It was done without my authorization and knowledge.
"As you can see now, the reason why my deputy governor manipulated your election is because he has political ambition and thought he could control and use the council to achieve his political goals. Please, I apologise. Going forward, you will have an independent, well organised and well-covered transparent election."
Commending the youths, Edo First Lady, Betsy Obaseki, said, "You are the ones we are looking up to. That is the reason why we are getting involved in your affairs and life and are here to support you. We are expecting great things from you and are confident that you will not disappoint us."
Obaseki earlier admitted that there was a rift between him and his deputy, Shaibu.
According to the governor, Shaibu has become so desperate to succeed him that he can do anything to remove him from office.
Obaseki who spoke while addressing stakeholders in a video posted by AIT on Friday, revealed how Shaibu allegedly conspired with seven members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the state House of Assembly to enthrone another Speaker in the House against his preferred choice.
He asked how Shaibu could be so desperate to succeed him ahead of the Edo governorship election in 2024, without even telling him that he is interested in succeeding him.
He said, "The constitution makes me the governor of Edo State and I know the powers of a governor. The constitution does not provide for a co-governor. Does it? It provides a deputy governor who carries out responsibilities the governor gives to him, it does not give him the power of the governor.
"Before now, he has been going around saying he is consulting because after the national assembly elections we met, we had a small meeting and I said 'Look I know the next major election will be the governorship election, how to choose the person who will succeed me but it is too early. The things we do now, and how we finish well will determine how strong we are to sell the person who will take over. But more importantly, we must solidify our party (Peoples Democratic Party) because PDP must by the Grace of God produce the next governor'.
"So, the work we must be doing now is how to consolidate the party, how to reconcile the party, and how to make the party one again. That is why I took a specific interest in the local government election so that we can consolidate and unify our party. So when all these issues were coming out for the local government nominations, everywhere I went there are already camps oh! This one is for deputy, I say ah! I have not finished my term, won't you allow me to finish, I said stop doing this.
"Till tomorrow, the deputy has never come to meet me one-on-one to say 'Oga, you know what, I am thinking of running oh! I want to see how I can succeed you when you finish'. Meanwhile, he said he is consulting and I kept quiet and said if you think I am someone you impose your idea on when you have finished consulting I will be watching. I didn't say anything.
"He is going around doing all sorts; let me go back to the main issue, what happened and created this problem."
“He went to Abuja and was boasting that he has connections in Abuja, that he has people in the national assembly, that they are all with the president now, that they will take care of him,” Obaseki said.