Ekiti’s Impeachment Sagas

THE impeachment saga in Ekiti State is a
political culture that escalated during the
eight year reign of General Olusegun
Obasanjo that might as well have been an
extension of military rule.

Impeachments in Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti,
and Plateau – all carried out under his
command – fell short of constitutional
requirements for removing a governor.
Emergency rules in Plateau and Ekiti were
Obasanjo’s legacies.




When Mr. Ayo Fayose of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, was elected
Governor of Ekiti State 10 months ago, All
Progressives Congress, APC, contested his
qualification. One of its major points was
Fayose’s 2006 impeachment. Dr. Kayode
Fayemi, the sitting governor, had
congratulated Fayose, but APC decided to
challenge the result at the tribunal.

The Ekiti State Governorship Election
Tribunal on 19 December 2014 upheld
Fayose’s election. On 16 February 2015, the
Appeal Court ruled in Fayose’s favour,
though it condemned the presence of the
military which intimidated voters. The
Supreme Court also affirmed Fayose’s
election, maintaining that his 16 October
2006 impeachment was not a valid ground to
disqualify him from the election, as the
impeachment was unconstitutional.

Governors have appropriated Obasanjo’s
unconstitutional manners, taking control of
their State Assemblies, through under-
funding, intimidation of members, and exile
of those who remain uncontrollable.

In Ogun State, under Gbenga Daniel, the
State Assembly could not meet for months, a
scenario that wasrepeated in Kogi State. The
intervention of the National Assembly did not
produce meaningful results. The principle of
separation of powers anticipates that various
arms of government, in the execution of their
duties, would act as checks on other arms.

Legislators have become willing tools for
furtherance of illegal political interests.
The Supreme Court in upturning
impeachment of deputy governors in Taraba
and Adamawa States, alluded to similar
illegalities. While impeachment is meant as a
check on the executive, in all the cases
mentioned, legislators were unwilling to
meet the constitutional requirements.

Both sides on the Ekiti impeachment saga
should tread softly. The Governor whose
legitimacy was confirmed by the Supreme
Court drew the first blood when he did an
unusual arithmetic of using seven legislators
to impeach a Speaker who had majority of 19
others on his side.

The 19 APC lawmakers who Fayose
abbreviated their membership of the State
House of Assembly last November, want to
return. Their immediate ambition is to
impeach Fayose who has denied them entry
into the Assembly.

It is unbelievable that those who get to their
positions through the law, once in office,
eagerly abandon the law, if they believe it
would inconvenience them. Fayose is a
beneficiary of the law. The legislators are a
creation of the law, so their actions should
be guided by the law.

These issues may finally be resolved by the
law, but unfortunately, the pace of justice is
so slow that perpetrators of illegalities enjoy
their illegal positions as we wait for justic