REMOVAL OF GOVERNOR OR DEPUTY GOVERNOR FROM OFFICE

CONTENTS

1.0       Introduction

2.0       Objectives

• Main Content
• Tenure of Office of Governor
• Permanent Incapacity of Governor or Deputy Governor
• Establishment of Certain State Executive Bodies
• State Executive Bodies
• State Council of Chiefs
• State Judicial Service Commission
• State Local Government Service Commission
• The Public Service of a State
• The Attorney-General of a State
• Prerogative of Mercy
• Declaration of State of Emergency
• Immunity from Suits or Legal Proceedings

4.0       Conclusion

5.0       Summary

6.0       Tutor-Marked Assignment

7.0       References/Further Readings

INTRODUCTION

Under this heading, we shall discuss the removal of Governor and or Deputy Governor from office by the House of Assembly of a State.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

identify the provisions and powers governing the removal from office of Governor or Deputy Governor from office by the House of Assembly of a State

discuss the establishment powers and functions of certain state executive bodies.

MAIN CONTENT

Whenever a notice of allegation in writing signed by not less than 1/3 (one-third) of the members of the House of Assembly is presented to the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the state stating that the holder of such office of the Governor or the Deputy Governor 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 7 days of the receipt of the notice cause a copy thereof to be served on the holder of the office and on each member of the House of Assembly and shall 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. Thus an impeachment proceeding is set in motion for the removal of a Governor or the Deputy Governor.

• 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.
• 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.
• Within 7 days of the passing of a motion under the foregoing provisions, the Speaker of the House of Assembly shall cause the allegation to be investigated by a Committee of 7 persons who in his opinion are of high integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, and who shall have been nominated and, with the approval of the House of Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of the House to conduct the investigation.
• The holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated shall have the right to defend himself in person and be represented before the Committee by legal practitioners of his own choice.
• A Committee so appointed shall:
• have such powers and exercise its functions in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly; and
• within 3 months of its appointment report its findings to the House of Assembly.
• Where the Committee reports to the House of Assembly that the allegation has not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.
• Where the report of the Committee 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 Committee is adopted, then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report
• No proceedings or determination of the Committee or of the House of Assembly or any matter relating thereto shall be entertained or questioned in any court.
• In this section “gross misconduct” means a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such nature, as amount in the opinion of the House of Assembly to gross misconduct.

Tenure of Office of Governor

An executive Governor holds his office until:

• his successor in office takes the oath of that office;
• he dies whilst holding such office;
• the date when his resignation from office takes effect; or
• he otherwise ceases to hold office in accordance with the provisions contained in the Constitution.

Permanent Incapacity of Governor or Deputy Governor

If it is ascertained and further verified by a medical panel that in its opinion the Governor or his Deputy is suffering from such infirmity of body or mind as renders him permanently incapable of his discharging the functions of his office, a notice thereof signed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly shall be published in the official gazette of the Government of the state.

And thus the Governor or his Deputy shall cease to hold office as from the date of publication of the notice.

Note that the panel required under this regulation shall consist of 5 medical practitioners in Nigeria, one of whom shall be the personal physician of either the Governor or the Deputy Governor as the case may be; while the remaining 4 should be those (in the opinion of the Speaker of the House of Assembly) who have attained a high degree of eminence in the field of medicine relative to the nature of the examination to be conducted.

Establishment of Certain State Executive Bodies

The Constitution, 1999 made it imperative for each state of the Federation to establish the following bodies, namely:

• The State Civil Service Commission;
• The State Independent National Electoral Commission; and
• The State Judicial Service Commission

The composition and powers of each body can be found in the third Schedule Part II of the Constitution, 1999.

The composition and the functions of each of these bodies are as follows:

State Executive Bodies

The State Civil Service Commission

1. A State Civil Service Commission shall comprise a Chairman and not less than 2 and not more than 4 other persons who shall, in the opinion of the Governor, be persons of unquestionable integrity and sound political judgment.
2. The Commission shall have powers without prejudice to the power vested in the Governor and the Judicial Service Commission:

• appoint persons to the offices in the state civil service;
• dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over persons heading such offices

Its powers do not extend to offices of heads of divisions of Ministries or departments of government of the state as may from time to time be designated by an order made by the Governor except after consideration with the Head of the Civil Service of the State.

State Judicial Service Commission

A State Judicial Service Commission shall comprise the following members, namely:

• The Chief Judge of the State, who shall be the Chairman;
• The Attorney-General of the State;
• The Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the State, if any;
• The President of the Customary Court of Appeal of the State, if any;
• Two members who are legal practitioners and who have been qualified to practice as legal practitioners in Nigeria for a period of not less than 10 years; and
• Two other persons not being legal practitioners who in the opinion of the Governor are of unquestionable integrity.

The Commission shall have power:

• to advise the National Judicial Council on suitable persons for nomination to the office of:
• the Chief Judge of the State;
• Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal if any; and
• the President of the Customary Court of Appeal if any, subject to the confirmation of such appointment by the House of Assembly of the
• Judges of the High Court of the State;
• Kadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the State, if any;
• Judges of the Customary Court of Appeal of the State, if
• subject to the provisions of this Constitution, to recommend to the National Judicial Council, the removal from office of the Judicial officers specified in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) this paragraph;
• to appoint, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over the Chief Registrar and Deputy Chief Registrar of the High Court, the Chief Registrars of the Sharia Court of Appeal and the Customary Court of Appeal, the Magistrates, the Judges and members of the Area Courts and Customary Courts, and all other members of the staff of the judicial service of the State not otherwise specified in this Constitution

Prerogative of Mercy

• The Governor may:
• grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by any Law of a State a pardon, either free or subject to lawful condition;
• grant to any person a respite, either for an indefinite or for a specified period, of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence;
• substitute a less severe form of punishment for any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence; or
• remit the whole or any part of any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence or of any penalty or forfeiture otherwise due to the state on account of such an offence.
• The powers of the Governor under subsection (1) of this section shall be exercised by him after consultation with such advisory council of the state on prerogative of mercy as may be established by the Law of the State.

Supplemental

The Constitution, 1999 makes provision for the National Population Census (Section 213), the establishment of Nigeria Police Force (Sections 214 – 216), the establishment and composition of the armed forces of the Federation (Sections 217 – 220), and the formation of political parties (Sections 221 – 229). Refer to the Constitution for details.

Declaration of State of Emergency

The President may by official Gazette issue a proclamation of a State of Emergency in the Federation or any part thereof when:

• the Federation is at war;
• the Federation is in imminent danger of invasion or involvement in a state of war;
• there is actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof to such extent as to require extra- ordinary measures to restore peace and security;
• there is a clear and present danger of an actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof requiring extra-ordinary measures to avert the same;
• there is an occurrence of imminent danger, or the occurrence of any disaster or natural calamity, affecting the community or a section of the community in the Federation;
• there is any other public danger which clearly constitutes a threat to the existence of the Federation; or
• the president receives a request to do so by the Governor of a State with the sanction of a resolution carried out by a two-thirds majority of a House of Assembly of a State in support when there is an existence within the state any of the situations specified in (c), (d) and (e) above.

Immunity from Suits or Legal Proceedings

A person holding the office of President or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor can not be sued for any Civil or Criminal matters during his period or term of office. See section 308 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

He can not even be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any Court or otherwise.

And no process of any Court shall be allowed or issued compelling the appearance of such an office holder in any Court of law.

However, it must be noted that these exclusion clauses or immunities will not apply to Civil Proceedings in his official capacity or Criminal Proceedings in which such a person is only a nominal party.

CONCLUSION

The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria clearly spells out the role the Legislature plays in the federation. In the same vain, it outlines the extent of the powers of both the legislature and the executive. In order to facilitate the functions of each arm of government, it endows powers unto both arms of government in the exercise of their constitutional duties. It also provides for the removal of state executives.

SUMMARY

In this module you have learnt about the powers of the Legislature, control of public funds, making of bills and removal of governors and their deputies.

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Explain the process of making a money bill.

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

D.E. Smith (1977). Constitution and Administrative Law.

Nwabueze, B. (1973). Constitutionalism; Hurst & Co. London.

Sokefun, J. (2002). Issues in Constitutional Law and Practice in Nigeria, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.

M.M. Mowoe (2002). Constitutional Law in Nigeria.

Ademola Yakubu & Toriola Oyewo (2001). Constitutional Law in Nigeria.