It is somewhat a hurricane.  And it blew across the country, prompting sudden changes in Borno, Adamawa, Ebonyi and Kano State Houses of Assembly within a month or two. Gombe and perhaps, elsewhere are presently witnessing the not-too-well atmosphere. But will that eventually play out? That is one question that is left for time to answer.

But while many do not pray for such development, these states have gone into the history lane as the first to shoot their various Speakers with the bullet of impeachment in the 7th Republic under President GoodLuck Jonathan. Sayurday Vanguard’s JOHN BULUS recounts the situations.

By their positions, they have no powers of their own. Their powers to function as executive heads of their respective Houses stem from a unanimous and united strength conferred on them by their colleagues. Yet, in some situations, they assume some powerful stance and eventually get connected to several political clouts even though they had stood for elections as their colleagues did.  But unfortunately, they exhibit manners incongruent with the ethos of their offices, hob-nobbing with the Chief Executives of their respective states, sometimes, mainly for self fish purposes, which of course, have never stopped drawing the ire of their colleagues against them. They are the Speakers of their State Houses of Assembly.

The foregoing captures the happenings in some state houses of assembly in the country. Indeed, the Legislative arm, like the Executive and Judiciary, chiefly enacts laws that govern the state. This is undoubtedly their core constitutional mandate. The members are elected from different constituencies of the state. At the time of general elections, no one would be jostling for the position of the Speaker or any other leadership position of the House as that position is obviously a secondary issue upon the inauguration of the Assembly.

It goes, therefore that anyone among the members who eventually emerges the Speaker or holds any given office sees it as an opportunity to serve the people in that capacity. But unfortunately, the case has seemingly become the contrary and has subsequently assumed the dilemma of most Speakers since the return of democracy in 1999. Instead of service to humanity, some of them use the opportunity for several other selfish purposes which range from permeating their political influence to siphoning the coffers of the House.

But almost, always, the Speakers have fallen victims of various impeachments from their exalted offices.  Almost, always, they exhibit manners that demean and diminish the respect and dignity of their members and sometimes behave as the lords of the manor. From east to north down the south and west, the story remains the same. And yet, the speakers, nay political office holders, especially in the clime called Nigeria, have failed to learn from history.

Retrospectively, the Olusegun Obasanjo era from 1999 to 2007 could be said to have recorded the highest number of impeachments in the political history of Nigeria. Impeachments were not only limited to the Speakers of some houses of assembly, it spilled to the state governors and their deputies.  A case that readily comes to mind amidst others which later assumed a different dimension was that of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State who suffered bouts of impeachments in the hands of the lawmakers in 2007.  Elsewhere in Ekiti State, the then governor suffered similar fate in the hands of the state assembly… and the list goes on.

Though the lawmakers were accused of  being induced by some obvious undemocratic factors , greater number of the people were of the view that such measures helped to keep other state governors on their toes as they became very wary of such moves against them. Consequently, they curtailed most of their excesses and inordinate pursuits while in the office.  The development was later to help sanitize the whole political system. But when it appeared seemingly abused, it attracted the venom of the public. And then, impeachment deadened.

But apparently, it does appear that the process has resurrected in the present dispensation.

At the moment, there is a gale of impeachments sweeping across the length and breadth of the country.  Interestingly, this time, it is not targeted against the governors but the Speakers of the some Houses of Assembly who have been fingered out to have plunged themselves and thrived in activities that run at variance with the collective thinking of the house. Technical incompetence, embezzlement of public funds, inaccessibility of their office, sheer display of arrogance and selfish and undue legislature/executive fiat are being categorized as among the reasons while some Houses had already booted their Speakers who refused to understand that they were only first among equals and never above their colleagues.

So far, four states of the federations have since the beginning of the present democratic dispensation and within an interval of two months of December 2011 and January 2012, showed their state Speakers the way out. These states include Ebonyi, Borno, Kano and Adamawa. While the court sacked that of Benue on issues bordering on his elections, apprehensions auspiciously hang in the air somewhere in Gombe State House of Assembly.

Ebonyi State

Ebonyi State made history on Wednesday, December 21, 2011, when the former Speaker of the House of was sacked. The event was very historic though a bitter one on the side of the Speaker, Mr. Ikechukwu Nwankwo. He was the first Speaker to be impeached since the advent of democracy in the State created in October 1, 1996 by the late Gen. Sanni Abacha junta. Fraud, incompetence and abuse of office were advanced as reasons for Nwankwo’s removal. Upon his election as the speaker, he became a somewhat dictator such that reports filtered that Nwankwo almost, in quick succession, had a plethora of bitter squabbles with the clerk of the house on issues of supremacy. It was in his quest to assert unusual influence and perhaps hijack the administrative powers of the clerk at the clerk’s refusal that set them on a war path.

The ‘war’ snowballed into battle with every concerned individual within the House. His colleagues in the Assembly watched and became saddened by the flagrant display of power. And finally, the boot came when it stretched to the limit. Obviously, his removal elicited applauses among members of staff of the assembly.

According to reports, Nwankwo’s alleged sins included, chiefly misappropriation of funds and gross abuse of office. This is captured in the words of Hon Odefa Obasi Odefa, a member of the House of Assembly representing Onicha East Constituency who also moved the motion for the impeachment of the speaker.

Odefa: “… various sums of money have been withdrawn, misappropriated and embezzled by the speaker. The amounts are so huge that the House finds it very appalling that all the resources of the state in the Legislature were plundered by one man without due recourse to law and laid down procedures or to his colleagues.”

He continued:  “On various occasions, the speaker had single handedly withdrawn huge sums ranging from various millions of naira, which we do not want to go into the details now but for emphasis, we must tell you that what comes to the Assembly for renovation or welfare of members or the interest of the state was usually embezzled by the former speaker alone.”

Continuing, he said“20 members voted for this impeachment; the Governor does not interfere in the internal affairs of the House. The Governor believes in the rule of law and that the three arms of government operate separately…And just like a blow we all came together and exercised our constitutional rights. And we did so in line with section 92  subsection 2 (c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which empowers us to remove any speaker provided we have the constitutional mandate of two thirds of the membership.”

Borno State

From the outside, Hon. Goni Ali Modu, erstwhile speaker of the Borno State house of assembly strikes the cord of gentility and maturity. That was to the outsider. But his colleagues who know him better refused to be dragged into such conclusions. And so, in less than 10 months into the seventh assembly, the State House of Assembly recently impeached him, copiously citing some acts of misdemeanor which include inaccessibility, arrogance and constant romance with the executive as reasons for his removal.

The impeachment followed a motion for the dissolution of the positions of the speaker and deputy speaker by Honourable Ayemu Gwasha representing Damboa state constituency which was supported by 21 out of the 28 members of the Borno assembly. Hon. Modu has since been replaced by Honourable Abdulkareem Adam, representing Guzamala state constituency in Northern Borno.

Adamawa State

The impeachment of former Adamawa Speaker, Hon. Ibrahim Sadiq and his deputy, Mrs. Wale Fwa on Monday, December 7, 2011 to some people came in a stance of one fell swoop. Not many anticipated that. Both were slammed with incompetence and lack of administrative acumen to run the affairs of the House by their colleagues as reasons for their impeachment. The impeachment was sequel to a vote of no confidence signed by 22 out of the 25 members of the Assembly and subsequently presented on the floor of the House by Jerry Kumdusi, representing Gombi state constituency. The House subsequently, unanimously elected Alhaji Umaru Ahmed Fintiri and Kwamoti Laori as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.

Kano State

Kano lawmakers on Monday, December 19, 2011suddenly woke up to realise that there was no good in the administrative style of their aging Speaker, Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Falgore and consequently impeached even in absentia, according to reports. The House sighted gross incompetence as reason for Falgore’s removal. In a motion by Alhaji Lawan Safiyanu Gogori, member representing Shanono /Bagwai constituency which was seconded by Alhaji Yahaya Inusa from Dawakin Kudu constituency, the legislators demanded that Falgore be impeached for his inability to conduct the affairs of the House in a competent manner. Gogori who further explained his position stated that the destiny of their state rested on the ability of the assembly to make good legislations over the affairs of the state. He said,“Since we came to this honourable House as members, we have been following keenly the way its affairs were being run by the former Speaker, thinking that with time he would learn through experience, he couldn’t catch up.”

Gogori added that instead of leading in the house in the path of honour, he Falgore, during all their sittings, was only able to do things that brought shame or disrepute to the House, saying that the incompetence of the former Speaker was responsible for the emerging disunity among the 40 members of the House and eventually, 32 out of the 40 members endorsed the motion, which therefore, brought to an end the leadership of Falgore. Hon. Gambo Sallau of Kiru Constituency has since become the new speaker of the Assembly.

Gombe State

At different times, there has been an air of impeachments in the Gombe State House of Assembly. A near miss of this also occurred a penultimate week when about 16 out of 24 member were said to have concluded to impeach the speaker, Hon. Inuwa Garba.

But sundry interventions from various sources especially the Executive arm of the Government saved the Speaker by the whiskers. Very funny scenario was alleged to have been created on the heels of the moves of the lawmakers. In some mysterious circumstances, the mace of the House got missing from the chambers. Though, no one could say the brain behind the disappearance, smart sources alleged that the Speaker was not unconnected to the development.

Throughout the period, the Assembly complex seemingly appeared immersed in cold waves as the speculations peaked. The Staff and other members of the public spoke in subdued tones about what would have become a historical event in the house.

The reasons for the impeachment moves hinged on sundry issues of alleged gross incompetence, inaccessibility and arrogance of the speaker, among others. Though, the moves seem to have been nibbed in the bud at the moment, apprehension still hangs in the air. It is left to be seen if the Speaker has learnt his lessons from the development.

Benue state

Meanwhile, for former Benue State speaker Hon. Terhemen Tarzoor, it was really a piece of humiliation. His removal was consequent upon a judicial pronouncement. The Court of Appeal in the State where his election case was taken to held that he was not validly elected. The court later directed that the Certificate of Return issued to him by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be withdrawn and issued to Hon. Avine Agbum of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

To this end, one can say that though the impeachment cases so far reported are not alarming; one sure thing is that the virus is creeping into the subconscious of the present dispensation. No one knows who and where the dangerous pendulum would swing next. But such can only be averted if the Speakers who seem to be the victims in this instance learn to lean on the greater good of the people than pursuing selfish agenda to broadening their political dynasty.