The word “impeachment” was uncommon in the Nigerian political lexicon until 1981 when Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the first Executive Governor of Kaduna state was impeached. Not because of any fraudulent practice or misapplication of funds but due largely to political differences between the Executive and the Legislature in the state at that time.
Alhaji Balarabe Musa was elected on the platform of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) led by the late Mallam Aminu Kano, a grass-root politician based in Kano as its founder. However, the Kaduna state House of Assembly was populated by members of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). So you have the Executive headed by a PRP faithful and the Legislature by NPN. Chief Adisa Meredith Akinloye, an Ibadan indigene and a lawyer by training, was the National Chairman of the Party (NPN). The party (NPN) controlled the centre with Alhaji Shehu Umar Shagari, from Shagari village in Sokoto state as the President and Commander-in-Chief.
Alhaji Mamman DanMusa was the then speaker of Kaduna House of Assembly who never hid his disdained for the Governor, a PRP person. On one or two occasions, the Governor forwarded the list of his commissioners for confirmation but “turned-down” by the state House of Assembly because the Governor, Alhaji Balarabe refused to nominate members of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) as commissioners. Of course, the governor had a valid excuse, at least, to distinguished minds.
If he appointed NPN members as commissioners, the governor argued, their loyalty will be to their party, which was the NPN and not PRP which appointed them. In truth that made political sense. The governor decided to work with Special Advisers instead of commissioners and that was the beginning of “Things Fall Apart” in the state, which subsequently led to his impeachment.
Governor Balarabe Musa’s decision was supported by the Unity Party of Nigeria governors, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, one of the first Nigerians to be elevated to the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and the two GNPP Governors.
At that time, there existed an active progressives alliance made up of the five UPN governors (namely Lagos state with Alhaji Lateef Jakande; Ogun state with late Chief Olabisi Onabanjo; Old Oyo state with late Chief Bola Ige –popularly known as Cicero of Esa-Oke; Old Bendel state with late Professor Ambrose Alli and Old Ondo state with late Chief (Papa) Michael Ajasin; two Governors of the GNPP (Great Nigerian Peoples Party – founded by Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri, the apostle of politics without Bitterness).
The two GNPP Governors were Alhaji Mohammedu Goni of old Borno state and Alhaji Abubakar Barde of blessed memory, old Gongola. The PRP governors were late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi of Kano state and Alhaji Babarabe Musa of Kaduna state. Three NPP governors, whose alliance did not last the duration of that dispensation were late Chief Solomon Lar of old Plateau state, (the present Nasarawa state was excised from Plateau state); late Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe of old Imo and Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo –the colourful governor of old Anambra state).
It is important to explain why the NPP participation in the alliance did not last. Ab initio, the Nigerian Peoples’ Party (NPP) was founded by late Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri. Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri invited late Dr Nnamdi Azikwe and a popular Lagosian, late Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya.
However, along the line there were irreconcilable differences between the two elder statesmen (Alhaji Waziri and Dr Zik). Consequently, Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri had to break away to found the Great Nigerian Peoples’ Party (GNPP) and Alhaji Waziri became the Chairman and Presidential candidate of the Party in 1979 and 1983 Presidential general elections respectively.
On the other hand, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya became the National Chairman of NPP with Dr Nmandi Azikiwe as its Presidential candidate. NPP went on, after the break from the Alliance, to romance with NPN, the ruling Party at the centre. With that NPP got two Ministerial slots at the Federal.
The UPN states, which the late Dr Tai Solari later named in his popular Monday column in the Nigerian Tribune, as LOOBO states, jointly owned Odua Group of Companies, the parent company of Daily Sketch group of newspapers. The Nigerian Tribune largely owned by Chief Obafemi Awolowo with Chief Oluwole Awolowo as Publisher (representing the interest of the Awolowo dynasty) and Felix Adenaike as Editor-in-Chief. These two Ibadan based vibrant newspapers gave maximum publicity to the activities of the Progressives Alliance and daily updated their readers of happenings on the floor of the Kaduna state House of Assembly regarding their unpopular decision to impeach the Governor at all cost.
Consequently in June 1981, Alhaji Balarabe Musa was impeached at the age of 45, thus becoming the first Executive Governor, in the history of Nigerian politics, to be so impeached. A fine gentleman, who was also a member of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Deputy Governor to Alhaji Musa, Alhaji Abba Musa Rimi was subsequently sworn as Executive Governor. And he (meaning Alhaji Abba Musa Rimi) danced to the tune of the state House of Assembly. That was the only impeachment that took place in the second republic.
However, on the return to civilian rule in 1999, the political landscape witnessed about six impeachments of Governors and also Deputy Governors.
The narrative here is primarily on Governors, not Deputy Governors. For that reason, I shall not talk about the impeachment threat to the Obasanjo Presidency, which he experienced at the tail end of his first tenure.
Of all the impeachments, it was that of Governor Diepreye Solomon Alamieyeseigha that had the international dimension. He was found with huge sums of foreign currency in his possession at the Heathrow Airport in London, which runs counter to British laws. “Governor Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, a staunch member of the PDP (otherwise known as DSP and self-styled “Governor General”) was detained in London on charges of money laundering in September 2005. At the time of his arrest, Metropolitan police found about £1m in cash in his London home. Later they found a total of £1.8m ($3.2m) in cash and bank accounts.
He was found to own four homes in London worth an alleged £10 million. His state’s monthly federal allocation for the last six years has been in the order of £32 million. He jumped bail in December 2005 from the United Kingdom by allegedly disguising himself as a woman, though Alamieyeseigha denied this claim.
Alamieyeseigha was impeached on allegations of corruption on 9 December 2005” (courtesy Google). Governor Alamieyeseigha’s Deputy Governor Goodluck Jonathan, also a PDP member, was sworn as the substantive Executive Governor of Bayelsa state.
“Governor Ayodele Peter Fayose (a young man with Odoona-Elewa, Orita Challenge background in Ibadan, Oyo state is a radical member of the ruling PDP) became the second Executive Governor of Ekiti on 29 May 2003 after defeating the then incumbent Governor Niyi Adebayo, the son of a retired Army General, humble personified and of humane character, in the Ekiti state governorship elections.
However, Governor Fayose could not complete his first tenure as a result of his impeachment on 16 October 2006” (courtesy Google) for a number of reasons ranging from outright fraudulent and sharp financial practices, to controversial poultry project which claimed several billons without corresponding evidence. Immediately after his impeachment, President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the sitting President then, declared “State of Emergency in Ekiti state, consequently appointed Major-Gen Adetunji Olurin (Rtd), an indigene of Ilaro in Ogun state and one time Military Governor of old Oyo state as the Sole Administrator.
Ordinarily, Fayose’s Deputy ought to have been sworn in but there were discordant tunes in the state House of Assembly and the Deputy could not be trusted enough. Again, this is important, before his own impeachment, Fayose had instigated the impeachment of his Deputy, a Surveyor by trade.
In the case of Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye, an unassuming member of the PDP and the Executive Governor of Plateau state between 1999 – 2003 and 2003 to May 2007 due to persistent communal clashes between Christians and Muslims in the state which claimed many lives and properties worth several millions destroyed. The government at the centre felt the governor did not address the frequent clashes appropriately. So President Olusegun Obasanjo declared “State of Emergency on the Plateau” and went ahead to appoint a retired Major General Chris Alli, who once governed the state as Military Governor and later became Chief of Army Staff (COAS) between Nov 1993 to August 1994, from Kogi state as Sole Administrator between November 18, 2004 to November 18, 2006.
“Dariye was eventually impeached on November 13, 2006. His deputy, late Dr. Michael Botmang, became the new Governor. On March 10, 2007, after a Court of Appeal ordered that Dariye be reinstated as governor, the Plateau state government announced its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. On 27 April 2007, the Supreme Court refused the appeal of the Plateau state government and ordered the reinstatement of Dariye with immediate effect.
Following his reinstatement, Dariye’s term of office as Governor of Plateau state concluded on 29 May 2007”. (Courtesy Google)
“Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, a medical Doctor by training, who retired as Deputy Director from the Federal Ministry of Health, turned to politics, becoming a founding member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). By 1999, he was Assistant National Secretary and zonal Secretary of PDP in the South-east region of the country. “In 2003, he was elected Governor of Anambra state in controversial circumstances. He quickly broke ranks with his political godfather, Chris Uba’s brother to Andy Uba, who was Special Adviser to President Obasanjo on Domestic Affairs (additional emphasis mine).
There was an unsuccessful attempt on 10 July 2003 to have Dr. Chris Ngige removed from office, through a fabricated letter of resignation which the state Assembly accepted” (courtesy Google). In fact, Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige became the first sitting Governor in Nigeria’s political history to be abducted from office, despite security operatives around him by characters described as “political thugs”
Chief Rasidi Adewolu Ladoja, was a businessman before he became the Executive Governor of Oyo state on May 29, 2003 on the platform of the PDP. “Rashidi Ladoja was elected Governor of Oyo State in April 2003 and took office on 29 May 2003. He was supported by Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, an Ibadan-based PDP power broker. By August 2004, Ladoja and Adedibu were locked in a fierce struggle over allocation of government appointees. Ladoja was not supported by the party in this dispute.
In an interview in late 2005, PDP National Chairman, Dr Ahmadu Ali, said that Ladoja should take instructions from Lamidi Adedibu.” (Courtesy Google). “On 12 January 2006, Ladoja was impeached by Oyo state legislators and he was forced out of office. The impeachment may have been due to the argument between Ladoja and Adedibu. His deputy, Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, was sworn in as the new Governor.
On 1 November 2006, the Appeal Court in the state capital, Ibadan, declared the impeachment null and illegal, but advised parties to the dispute to wait for confirmation of this decision by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the decision on November 11, 2009, and Ladoja officially resumed office on December 12, 2006. (Courtesy Google).
Peter Obi stood in the Anambra state governorship election as candidate for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party in 2003, but his rival, Chris Ngige of the Peoples Democratic Party, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). After nearly three years of litigation, Ngige’s victory was overturned by the Court of Appeal on March 15 2006. Obi took office for on March 17 2006.
On November 2, 2006 he was impeached by the state House of Assembly after seven months in office and replaced the next day by Virginia Etiaba, his deputy, making her the first ever female Governor in Nigeria’s history. Obi successfully challenged his impeachment and was re-instated as the governor on February 9, 2007 by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu. Etiaba handed power back to him after the court ruling.
He once again left office on May 29, 2007 following the general elections, which Andy Uba won. Watch out for part 2 of this article!
– Bernard Balogun (BenPino) writes from Wuse District of Abuja and he could be reached via 0803.787.9275 or bernardbalogun1@yahoo.com.
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