Tobi Soniyi
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended provides for the removal of a state governor in Section 188 as follows:
(1) The governor or deputy governor of a state may be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) Whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by not less than one third of the members of the House of Assembly-
(a) is presented to the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the state;
(b) stating that the holder of such office is guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office, detailed particulars of which shall be specified, the Speaker of the House of Assembly shall, within seven days of the receipt of the notice, cause a copy of the notice to be served on the holder of the office and on each member of the House of Assembly, and shall also cause any statement made in reply to the allegation by the holder of the office, to be served on each member of the House of Assembly.
(3) Within 14 days of the presentation of the notice to the Speaker of the House of Assembly (whether or not any statement was made by the holder of the office in reply to the allegation contained in the notice), the House of Assembly shall resolve by motion, without any debate, whether or not the allegation shall be investigated.
(4) A motion of the House of Assembly that the allegation be investigated shall not be declared as having been passed unless it is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of all the members of the House of Assembly.
(5) Within seven days of the passing of a motion under the foregoing provisions of this section, the Chief Judge of the state shall at the request of the Speaker of the House of Assembly appoint a panel of seven persons who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative House or political party, to investigate the allegation as provided in this section.
(6) The holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated under this section shall have the right to defend himself in person or be represented before the panel by a legal practitioner of his own choice.
(7) A panel appointed under this section shall-
(a) have such powers and exercise its functions in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly; and
(b) within three months of its appointment, report its findings to the House of Assembly.
(8) Where the panel reports to the House of Assembly that the allegation has not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.
(9) Where the report of the panel is that the allegation against the holder of the office has been proved, then within 14 days of the receipt of the report, the House of Assembly shall consider the report, and if by a resolution of the House of Assembly, supported by not less than two-thirds majority of all its members, the report of the panel is adopted, then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report
It follows, therefore, that the following steps must be taken for any successful impeachment to take place:
Step 1
A notice of any allegation in writing alleging gross misconduct on the part of the governor. This notice must be signed by not less than one-third of the members of the state House of Assembly is presented to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly.
The constitution defines gross misconduct as ‘…a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion of the National Assembly to gross misconduct.’
Step 2
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly must within seven days, serve the governor and each member of the state House of Assembly with a copy of the notice of allegation.
Step 3
The governor has a right of reply, and any such statement in reply to the allegation must be served on each member of the state House of Assembly.
Step 4
Within 14 days of the presentation of the notice to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, the state House of Assembly shall resolve by motion without any debate whether or not the allegation shall be investigated. This motion needs to be passed by at least two-thirds majority of all members of the state House of Assembly.
Step 5
If the motion fails to reach the required majority, the process immediately stops, and no further action will be taken. However, if the required majority is obtained and the motion is passed, then the Speaker of the state House of Assembly will within seven days of the passing of the motion, request the Chief Judge of the state to appoint a panel of seven persons who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity to investigate the allegations. The members of the panel cannot be members of any public service, legislative house or political party.
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