By Dr Vincent Adedara
Under the Nigerian Constitution, the sole ground for impeaching the President is “gross misconduct”. This is defined as a “grave violation or breach of the provisions of the Constitution or a misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion of the National Assembly to gross misconduct,” according to section 143(11) of the Constitution.
This is the only stated cause for impeachment in the Nigerian Constitution.
Section 143(11) defines it broadly as a grave constitutional violation or a misconduct deemed “gross” by the National Assembly.
The National Assembly has the power to initiate the impeachment process based on allegations of gross misconduct. The present National Assembly can never impeach President Tinubu but will rather see if they can give him a third term if possible.
The President has committed an impeachable offence by setting a dangerous precedent by going further to allow an unelected and unconstitutional sole Administrator to prepare the state budget and facilitate the passage of the same by the House of Representative.
Sole Administrator appointment in the Rivers State is unconstitutional in all ramifications.it would have been better to terminate the emergency rule in the state and reinstate Gov. Fubara and others, to allow him to prepare the state budget which will be passed to law by the state House of Assembly.
There is no justification for state of emergency in Rivers state and if there is any, then the rest of the states in Nigeria are supposed to be under emergency rule by reasons of kidnapping, terrorism, banditry, insurgency, arm robbery and other forms of insecurities in Nigeria, especially in the North East and North West. Some Local governments are under the control of terrorists but the states with such local governments are not fit for emergency rule, except the oil-rich state. Rivers state emergency rule is politically motivated to assuage a godfather and President Tinubu himself, being a godfather in Lagos politics, will protect godfatherism in politics. It is an obvious practice to protect “godfatherism hegemony” in Nigeria, and it was executed in an unprecedented manner, even if it will breach the constitution. There is no National Assembly that rubber stamps the Assembly presently, our Senate supported the motion that required a two-thirds majority vote with a voice vote. They engage in illegality with impunity.
President Tinubu forwarded ₦1.48 trillion Rivers State budget to the House of Representatives for approval. We need to ask under what section of the Constitution the President presents the budget of a State? Has President Tinubu now become the ACTING Governor of Rivers State? It is quite obvious that the emergency rule is about personal ambition and access to the wealth of the state.
The most authoritarian and despotic of military regimes couldn’t do things as daring as this, President Tinubu once condemned in a clear term the despotic regime of past dictators but now the President had outdone the dictators he once condemned?
It is now wrong to think that a constitutional democracy leverages on constitutional provisions and the rule of law, but rather now on impulse, personal interests and outright thuggery and state oppression through federal might to assuage an individual. Is our President now the “State” who can do no wrong? The members of the National Assembly are in connivance, condonation and collusion in achieving the new role for our President.
What is the status quo of Rivers State now after the unconstitutional Administrator had taken over? Has unthreatened peace been restored in Rivers State? Was the emergency rule really about any security breaches in Rivers State, or a wrong display of federal might to intimidate and cease power from the democratically elected Governor to pacify the state godfather?
If President Tinubu is really and literally ready, he can transmogrify into president for life, and SP Akpabio’s Senate will gladly confer it on him just for the asking! The opposition party are emasculated already, we only practically have one party for now, the coalition alliance is a sheer waste of time and resources.
One may think our Court will definitely help us out of the present wrong display of power? Mr Wike’s frightening image looms large in the horizon. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel, then?
The status quo continues, but who will deliver this country from its bondages?
We continue to keep silent on humongous corruption everywhere, and with plea bargains, corrupt officers can go home to enjoy the rest of their loot. Mr Ahmed Idris, former Accountant General, owns about 17 houses in London, Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Dubai, making public office a lucrative business in Nigeria. He was appointed on June 25, 2015.His predecessor, Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla, was dragged to the Federal High Court, Abuja for a two billion naira fraud. The allegation against Ahmed Idris makes Jonah’s alleged theft look like a minor offence. Pocketing eighty billion Naira is forty times more than what his predecessor allegedly stole; 80 billion naira is about 193 million dollars. If we compare this wealth to the United States of America’s individual wealth, with a look at the report by Boston Consulting Group published by Forbes Magazine, only about 5000 households in the United States of America have a net worth of 100 million dollars, not to talk of 193 million dollars. Mind you, America is presumably the richest country in the world.
Let’s do a small mathematical analysis. The salary of Nigeria’s president is about 26 million Naira a year. If Mr Ahmed as the former Accountant General, presumably earned one million dollars yearly (about one billion naira) though not possible, he will have to work for 80 years to earn 190 million dollars. If he spends 80 billion Naira, he will need about 80 years to spend about 90 million per month. This kind of looting will make the children of looters take to hard drugs, as evil hardly depart from the houses of such looters by karma factors. Many of the blood of innocent people had been shed due to the poor state and lack of hospitals and poor educational facilities, deplorable roads and their maintenance, lack of welfare packages for the poor and jobless youths as a result of looting by individuals like Mr Ahmed.
The reason for the aggressive quest for power, abuse of power, is not unconnected to greed and corruption. There are so many Emefieles walking audaciously around us, but they remain untouchable. Successors in Nigeria are always outdoing their predecessors in fraudulent practices. Is Ahmed or Emefiele in Prison now? No? Only those who stole chicken without money or influence can be sentenced to death in Nigeria. Until we prescribe death or life sentence for corruption, it will continue unabated with plea bargains syndrome. The politicians will continue to steal in excess and use 50 percent of their loot for a plea bargain and be free to spend the rest with their families.
President Tinubu should tackle corruption in the corridors of power. Corruption is the reason the godfather wants to control a sitting Governor and corruption is the reason why the unelected administrator desires to rule a state without constitutional backing. It is called governance corruption, and President Tinubu should not commit an impeachable offence to achieve it for the godfather, even if our National Assembly members are inactive to their responsibilities. The recent insertion of 7 trillion Naira into the budget by the National Assembly is an indication that they are there for the wrong and selfish motives. Institutionalised corruption starts with the National Assembly. Anything can be done for hard currency.
Dr Adedara is a Solicitor in Nigeria, England and Wales
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
