The rift between Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, Monday morning assumed a vicious dimension as Shaibu was denied access to his old office at the Government House in Benin, the state capital.

Shaibu arrived at the Government House on Monday morning but met the gate leading to his office under lock and key.

He says he is yet to receive a formal letter from the governor’s office, adding that there is a  proper channel to transmit a directive pertaining to the relocation to a new office.

“Up till now, I don’t have any official communication that I should relocate. The only people that have official communication are my civil servants. The civil servants have official communication but I don’t. As I am speaking to you now, I am standing by the gate,” he said while on a phone call to a yet-to-be-identified person.

Last week, a letter said to be from the office of the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, was reported to have been sent to the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Governor directing Shaibu to relocate to a new office situated at No 7, Dennis Osadebey Avenue, GRA, Benin City.

However, sources said that the new office is abandoned and in dire need of rehabilitation.

Obaseki and his deputy had been drawn into a long battle of attrition over the decision of Shaibu to run for the office of governor in the next election.

Sources close to Obaseki said the governor does not want his deputy to succeed him on the ground of equity.