Over the past week, the leader of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives,
Kingsley Chinda from Rivers State has repeatedly called for the impeachment of
President Muhamadu Buhari.
He hinged his decision on the
security situation in the country.
Chinda in a statement on the 7th
of December had called on the Federal Executive Council to invoke section
144(1) by declaring the President incapacitated to discharge the duties of his
office and also called on Nigerians to compel their representatives to commence
impeachment process.
On the 17th of July, Mr Chinda
again called for the impeachment of the President following the recent
abduction of 333 students of Government Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina
State.
He also declared that his party
will challenge the position of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami on his claim that the National Assembly has no powers to summon the
President.
It would be recalled that the
House following the gruesome murder of 43 farmers in Borno by Boko Haram
invited President Buhari to brief the House on the security situation in the
country. Buhari later declined after initially agreeing to brief the joint
session of the National Assembly.
Malami in a press statement
claimed that the National Assembly has no powers to summon the President,
citing section 218 of the 1999 constitution.
Analysis: The Position of the
constitution on impeachment
Sections 143 and 144 provide the
process for the impeachment of the President. Chinda in his two calls for impeachment
called for invoking of the two sections.
Impeachment by the National
Assembly
Section 143 of the 1999
constitution provides the steps for impeaching the President and the Vice
President by the National Assembly for ‘gross misconduct’.
Here is a simple summary of the
process. First, 1/3 (157) of the entire members of the National Assembly must
sign a notice of allegation of “gross misconduct” which must be presented to
the Senate President.
Copy of the notice within 7days
is to be sent to the President and every member of the National Assembly.
Within Another 14days after serving the President, with or without the reply of
the President, then the motion to investigate the president must again be
passed by 2/3 majority of each chamber of the National Assembly. That is, a
motion of the investigation must be moved in the House and the Senate
separately. For the motion to pass in the House, 240 members must support it,
and 73 senators must also support it.
If the motion should pass in the
two chambers, then the Senate President will ask the Chief Justice of the
Federation to set up a panel of 7 persons who according to section 143 (5) must
be “of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service,
legislative house or political party.” The CJN will have to decide who passes
these qualities.
The panel will investigate the
allegation against the president within 90days and submit its report to each
chamber of the National Assembly. If the panel should find the President
guilty, then each chamber must within 14days again vote by 2/3 majority to
adopt the report. The adoption of the report means the President is hereby
impeached.
Present Political reality of
impeachment
Chinda is not the Minority Leader
in the House of Representatives. He lost the position to Ndudi Eumelu, who is
officially the Minority Leader recognized by the National Assembly. The PDP
which is the major opposition is divided in the House between Chinda and
Elumelu. The APC in the House continues to gain more members to increase its
majority in the House.
Also, the Senate President Ahmad
Lawan and Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila are both allies of the President and have
repeatedly declared their commitment to protecting the interest of the
President.
Furthermore, the current CJN,
Justice Ibrahim Tanko will be saddle with the responsibility of determining the
selection of the panel, with discretionary powers to determine their
neutrality.
Section 144 (5) reads: “Within
7days of the passing of the passing of a motion, the Chief justice of Nigeria
shall at the request of the President of the Senate appoint a panel of seven
persons who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity, not members of any
public service, legislative House, or political party, to investigate the
allegation as provided by this section.”
Lastly, the possibility of
getting 2/3 majority of all members in each chamber twice looks impossible
considering that the House is prone to rowdy sessions at the slightest
provocation. This perhaps explains while Chinda is asking Nigerians to prevail
on their lawmakers.
And there is the long period of
time involved in the process, and the possibility of litigation in the process.
Impeachment by the Federal
Executive Council
The Federal Executive Council
which refers to the body of ministers appointed by the President can also
remove the president on the ground of “incapable to discharge functions of the
office.”
The council in a resolution
passed by 2/3 majority of the members can kick-start the process of removal
from the office. Following the resolution of FEC, the Senate President will
constitute a medical panel to determine if the “president is suffering from
infirmity of body and mind.”
The panel will comprise of 5
medical practitioners appointed by the Senate President and 1 of them must be
the personal doctor of the President. The president can only be removed if the
panel should certify that indeed the president is suffering from deformity that
can prevent him from discharging his office.
A copy of the certification will
be sent to the Senate President and Speaker. After it has been published on the
official gazzete, the President stand removed.
Political realities of Federal
executive council
The body is made up of ministers
appointed by the President, serving at the pleasure of the President, and stand
removed at the discretion of the President.
Aso, the Senate President will
also have discretionary powers to determine the composition of the medical
personnel to determine the state of health of the President.
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