Senate chambers. Photo credit: @NgrSenate on Facebook.
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Nothing prepared Lagosians for the news that broke out on the afternoon of Jan. 13, 2025. Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, was impeached during an emergency plenary session while returning from a trip to the United States.
32 Assembly members made this decision, citing allegations of gross misconduct and financial mismanagement as key reasons for his removal. The lawmakers accused Obasa of poor leadership, including perpetual lateness to sessions and intimidation of fellow members.
Obasa has since been replaced by his deputy, Mojisola Meranda, becoming Lagos State’s first female speaker.
In a democracy, impeachment is used to check executive power. It is the constitutional mechanism for removing leaders who abuse power, break the law, or engage in corruption or other scandals. However, as we have seen in Nigerian politics, impeachment can also be exploited for partisan gain and political opportunism.
What does impeachment mean in Nigeria?
Impeachment is a legislative process in Nigeria through which elected officials, including the Speaker of a House of Assembly, can be removed from office for serious misconduct.
Although the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria does not explicitly define “impeachment,” it outlines the process and grounds for this act in specific sections.
Sections 143 and 188 describe the process for impeaching Presidents and Governors, including the requirement for a written notice of allegations signed by at least one-third of the National Assembly and the necessity of a two-thirds majority for investigation and consequent removal. Before any investigation or removal, the accused has the right to defend himself.
For state legislators, Section 92(2)(c) provides that a Speaker or Deputy Speaker can be removed by a resolution supported by at least two-thirds of the members of the House.
It reads, “The Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly shall vacate his office–(c) if he is removed from office by a resolution of House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of the House.”
While not a formal definition of impeachment itself, Section 143(11) defines “gross misconduct” as “a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion of the National Assembly to gross misconduct.” This definition is subjective and applies to various officials subject to impeachment, including state legislators.
Knowing the difference between executive and legislative impeachments
Legislative and executive impeachments are similar but not the same. Amina Miango, a Nigerian lawyer and political analyst, defines the former as removing the leadership of various houses, including the Senate, House of Representatives, or a State House of Assembly. But if a President, Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor, or local government Chairman is impeached, it is considered an executive impeachment.
Furthermore, the impeachment of an executive officeholder means the end of the person’s tenure.
“So, if a governor is impeached, he’s gone,” Amina explained. “The deputy governor becomes the governor if he’s not impeached. He’s sworn in as governor. That’s the difference. And if it’s the deputy governor who is impeached, it ends the tenure of that person. A new deputy governor will be appointed by the governor.”
This is not the case with the legislative branch where the impeached person is a lawmaker. It is important to note that while Obasa is no longer a speaker, he remains a member of the house till his tenure is over.
Is Obasa’s impeachment legal?
Obasa has represented Agege Constituency 1 in the Assembly since 2003 and has been the speaker since 2015. Throughout his tenure, he had faced numerous controversies including an allegation of spending N17 billion on a gate to the assembly complex. Other allegations included misappropriation of constituency funds and engaging in corrupt practices, such as diverting assembly funds to personal accounts. His leadership style was described as authoritarian, leading to tensions with both assembly members and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
ThisDay and BusinessDay newspapers reported more allegations leading to his impeachment. They included insubordination to political leaders and disrespect towards Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who had allegedly tolerated him due to his perceived closeness to President Bola Tinubu.
According to ThisDay, the motion to remove Obasa came from Femi Saheed under the “Matter of Urgent Public Importance.”
Saheed was quoted as saying, “In line with provisions of section 92(2)(C) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Obasa is accused of gross misconduct and poor leadership, which included perpetual lateness to legislative sessions and meetings, high-handedness, and lack of regard for honourable members, gross abuse of office and privileges, intimidation and oppression of honourable members by inciting members against one another, amongst others.”
The sudden impeachment of Obasa, however, raises several questions about the legality of its procedures. While Section 92 of the 1999 constitution does not clearly state the procedures of impeaching a Speaker, other sections like 143(2)(b) (for the president and vice) require that the accused person and all members be served a notice, each detailing the allegations, within seven days.
Afterwards, the office holder is allowed to defend himself in a reply, which shall also be served on each member of the National Assembly.
“Within fourteen days of the presentation of the notice to the President of the Senate (whether or not any statement was made by the holder of the office in reply to the allegation contained in the notice), each House of the National Assembly shall resolve by motion without any debate whether or not the allegation shall be investigated,” Section 143 (3) reads.
Within seven days of passing this motion, the Chief Justice, “at the request of the President of the Senate, appoints a panel of seven persons who are of unquestionable integrity and not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, to investigate the allegations.”
Section 143(6) reads, “The holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated under this section shall have the right to defend himself in person and be represented before the Panel by legal practitioners of his own choice.”
This process could take the president or his vice a minimum of three months and 35 days, which is similar to a governor’s and his deputy’s, according to Section 188.
Obasa was impeached in absentia, without legal representation, and his impeachment occurred within 24 hours. These cast a thick shadow over the legality of the entire removal process. The Lagos State House of Assembly may need to provide reasons to the public.
How common is impeachment in Nigerian politics?
There has been successful impeachment of several public officials since 1999. A paper even alleged that it ran into hundreds; however, DUBAWA could not find enough public data to prove this assertion.
While the impeachment of a President never took place within this time frame, a few Governors like Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, battled several impeachment attempts. However, the figures were not as mind-boggling as the 17 Deputy Governors who have been booted out of their offices in this period.
The most recent is Phillip Shaibu of Edo State. He was accused of being involved in a public feud with his principal, Godwin Obaseki, over his gubernatorial aspirations. Although reinstated on July 17, 2024, he was impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly on the charge of perjury and for disclosing state secrets.
On Feb. 23, 2022, the Zamfara State House of Assembly impeached Deputy Governor Mahdi Gusau and promptly appointed Senator Hassan Nasiha, the sitting representative for Zamfara Central Senatorial District, as his successor. He was accused of office abuse and self-enrichment using public funds.
Other impeached deputy governors, as reported by The Nation, include Simon Achuba (Kogi), Eze Madumere (Imo), Ali Olanusi (Ondo), Sunday Onyebuchi (Enugu), Peremobowei Elebi (Bayelsa), Sani Danladi (Taraba), Jude Agbaso (Imo), Late Garba Gadi (Bauchi), Abiodun Aluko (Ekiti), Biodun Olujinmi (Ekiti), Iyiola Omisore (Osun), Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele (Lagos), Femi Pedro (Lagos).
Senators have also had a history with the impeachment of Evans Enwerem (1999) and Chuba Okadigbo (2000) as Senate presidents and the controversial impeachment of Bukola Saraki in 2018. However, while other officeholders have faced this ultimate penalty for “misconduct,” deputy governors have been its most frequent recipients.
Is impeachment in Nigerian politics for accountability or power play?
Speaking to DUBAWA, a political analyst and election monitoring expert, Mboho Eno said impeachments are not meant to be a witch hunt or punishment for disloyalty. Constitutionally, Mboho said impeachments are supposed to be carried out in an orderly and credible manner while following procedures stipulated by the Constitution.
“However, in Nigeria today, impeachments are sometimes made to look like punishments or witch hunts of perceived political enemies. When you review previous impeachments, you get to understand that it’s always been about power play and not an act of accountability. That’s why we usually almost always have such impeachments overturned by the courts for those bold enough to approach the courts,“ he said.
Like Mboho, Amina explained that impeachment was created as a tool for holding executives and legislative heads accountable for their actions. However, in practice, Nigerian politicians now seem to use it as a power play.
“So when a governor is being threatened with impeachment, it is because he and the legislature have a problem. Or suppose a deputy governor is threatened with impeachment. In that case, it is because he probably has a problem with the governor, and the governor uses the state house of assembly, which he has control over, to get to him. And it is the same thing with speakers in the Houses of Assembly in the states.
“Once you see impeached speakers, if you trace it properly, you see that there is a problem with the governor or with one godfather, and they get impeached. So while it was meant to serve as an accountability under the law, in practice, it is simply power play by politicians,” she said.
Dr Fasunwon Bayo, a political analyst and political science lecturer said impeachments in Nigerian politics are either for accountability or power play, depending on the narratives.
He added, “The condition for impeachment is often captured under ‘gross misconduct.’ Once gross misconduct can be proved, then the victim is removed based on a misdemeanour.
“However, in politics, actual ‘gross misconduct’ can metamorphose into ‘excellent performance’, if the toes of the Godfathers are not stepped upon and if their egos are massaged as at when due.”
For impeachments to be legitimate and objective, Fasuwon advised that citizens’ “perception and acceptance be sought in our type of polity.”
Addressing the Lagos speaker’s situation, Mboho continued, saying the house cannot claim to have suddenly become ethical in their dealings.
“If that was the case, why was the speaker impeached rather than asking him to step down for a proper investigation to be done? The question will be, was the former speaker allowed to defend himself? Did he make any submissions to the accusations? The Nigerian law stipulates that one is deemed innocent until proven guilty. Can the house tell us which committee found him guilty?” he questioned.
According to Mboho, the Nigerian definition of impeachment seems like “punishment for erring or non-aligned players in the temple of politics.”
