Impeachment gambit in Rivers State

Impeachment is not a word for holidaying or picnicking. It is not a lexicon for tea party. It is rather a stringent constitutional provision applied in extreme cases and which comes with a whole gamut of consequences. That is why the framers of constitutional democracy put in place other checks and balances, and purposively, enshrined it as a last resort with procedural rigour for punishment of any gross misconduct by a president, a governor, or a presiding officer of the legislature. Hence, removing an all-powerful president in a country like Nigeria or the emperor-like governors, through an impeachment process, is akin to a revolution. Years back, when an impeachment dangle hovered the neck of former president Obasanjo at the height of his face-off with the two chambers of National Assembly led by Anyim Pius Anyim and Ghali Umar Na’Abba, the then Chairman of ruling People’s Democratic Party, Audu Ogbeh, reminded the lawmakers that impeachment is a heavy word.

But in Rivers State, impeachment has become a trump card. It is a tool of blackmail. It is a gauntlet of intimidation. A weapon of political vendetta. And it is deployed for arm-twisting of Fubara to implement nocturnal “agreements” entered at the behest of the godfather who despite his garrulity, lacks the courage to share the details in a broad daylight.  The Lord of the Manor presses the button in an aphrodisiacal style to reassure himself and the followers of his invincibility in Nigerian politics. Curiously but not surprising, the handpicked, lawless lawmakers have bastardized the weight of impeachment.  Like senseless courtiers, they have made the eye of childhood to stand up to a painted devil.

By serving Governor Fubara with three impeachment notices in less than three years, the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly would compete in the Guinness Book of Records with her badge of notoriety as the worst since the creation of the State. To my mind, they have abused the spirit behind the impeachment clause. Unfortunately, the ‘dishonourable’ members who crammed the impeachment lines from the 1999 Constitution (as amended), like a people going for recitation contest, to win a filthy lucre, failed to understand that the law can become an ass when it negates morality and human context.

  The chief architect of the ensuing tension around Fubara-must-go, either by hook or crook, is Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, and the ‘owner’ of Rivers State. He is characteristically the most pampered politician in Nigeria today. Against presidential directive that Honourable Ministers’ convoy should not exceed more than three vehicles, Wike is an exception. His convoy, whether in Abuja or in Rivers State, always had a longlist of its vehicles in deference to the presidential order. We are not told whether he got a special waiver. He commands a retinue of bodyguards and apologists who cheer him up as he lampoons whoever questioned his eccentricity. His utterances, body language, and boastings gave him away as an admirer of King Herod’s style of speech making.  Indeed, Paul Colliers’s book, ‘Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places’ fits well with the brigandage going on Rivers State since 2023.  By acting like a war monger, Wike represents the antithesis of everything that democracy stands for.

Wike is afraid that he will be buried politically if Fubara gets a second term in office. Therefore, he quickly organized ‘thank you’ tours to the 23 LGAs of the state to incite the people against his successor. Anybody that tried to call Wike to order is accused of eyeing the N600 billion left in the state coffers by the state of emergency’s sole administrator. By embarking on early campaigns for the 2027 elections, Wike has brazenly flouted the electoral law. But nothing will happen because Wike is involved. Nobody bothers that the early campaigns affect governance delivery.  The House of Assembly which had scheduled to resume plenary on January 26 after her Christmas and New Year Recess reconvened on Thursday January 8 for a matter of ‘urgent’ public importance. The ‘urgent’ matter turned out to be an impeachment notice to Fubara. Haba!

Wittingly or unwittingly, the desperation to remove Fubara from office has made the Members of Rivers House of Assembly to lose immense public goodwill. They have lost in the court of public opinion. Besides, despite his tremendous performance as FCT Minister, Wike’s insistence on having his way all the time and fighting at all fronts is a poor sense of strategy. It shows lack of tact. He acts like someone always beyond his turf. For him, what matters all the time is his personal interest. Thus, he has destroyed with his two hands what he built for years.  He has de-marketed democracy to the extent that he is no longer the poster boy for Tinubu’s government. 

The public perception is that even as an appointee, Wike is untouchable. His open boast about the outcome of the Supreme Court case in Osun State is a smear to the institution. In fact, the statement that nobody should take his support for Tinubu for granted, and that he can fight anybody, is a pointer to something sinister based on his antecedents. It therefore becomes imperative that Wike should be urgently called to order. Let this River State matter be seen as a direct threat to democracy in Nigeria. We cannot allow the likes of Wike to destroy our hard-won democracy.