over the motion for the impeachment of the governor of the state Chief
Martin Elechi passed by the state House of Assembly to commence the
impeachment process. Many people who followed the steps taken before
the impeachment motion have hailed the decision while a few others
think otherwise. The House has anchored the decision to impeach the
governor on what members described as "gross misconduct and breaches
of the Constitution". It is not the first time a governor is being
investigated for impeachment in our nation since return to democracy
in 1999; states like Oyo, Ekiti had witnessed impeachments of their
governors. Impeachment being part of the oversight functions of the
Legislature is meant to check the excesses of the governors.
Yusuph Olaniyonu writing in the ThisDay Newspaper of November 17,
2006, noted that "Section 188 is included in our constitution by its
makers to prevent the chief executives of our 36 states and their
deputies from misbehaving. This misbehavior could border on misuse of
the enormous powers at their disposal or misapplication of the huge
resources of the state. The Section is also to protect the citizenry
from a governor who may have forgotten the contents of his or her oath
of office. The impeachment process is also expected to be one of the
instruments of affecting the doctrine of Separation of Powers in a
modern presidential system. The legislature which is a branch of
government relies on the impeachment process to check the excesses of
the executive and to keep them in line. More importantly, the
impeachment process is expected to be an antidote to the iron-cast
protection granted the president, governors and their deputies under
Section 308. The immunity clause protects the beneficiaries from civil
or criminal prosecution. The elected officials mentioned in the
section cannot even be compelled to appear in court to give evidence.
Neither can they be arrested or detained".
The Legislature is one of the institutions in a democracy which is
highly revered because it has the constitutional powers to hold
governments accountable to the electorates. It is for this reason
that the scrutiny of the executive is perhaps one of the most
important functions of any Legislature. A condition for the exercise
of executive power in a constitutional democracy is that the executive
is checked by being held accountable to an organ of government
distinct from it. This function has become especially critical given
the enormous powers wielded by executive arm of government in an era
of growing concern for accountability and transparency.
That is why K. C. Wheare acknowledged that the most important role of
a modern parliament is 'making the government (to) behave', and in
that regard democrats usually look to Legislature to ensure that the
executive is kept under scrutiny and prevented from abusing its
powers.
There is no doubt that in most democracies in developing societies
like Nigeria, the attempt by the Legislature to discharge its
constitutional duties has become a source of friction and disagreement
between legislatures and executives especially those emerging from
Military dictatorships.
In Nigeria, the 1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended provides for a
Legislature that is designed to effectively and actively contribute to
building and consolidating democracy, which is an important aspect of
our democracy where elected representatives of the people should
oversee government actions and ensure that government remains
accountable. The 1999 constitution in full expression to this
principle provided for an exclusive power of investigation and
scrutiny by the National Assembly over the executive under sections 88
and 89 and that of the House of Assembly in sections 128 and 129, so
that the legislature can serve as an institution of restraint on the
executive arm of government and be an arena for crystallizing popular
participation in the broad governmental process.
Read more at 247ureports:
http://247ureports.com/ebonyi-state-house-of-assembly-and-the-impeachment-debate-by-jerry-uhuo/
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