Jonathan And Impeachment Threat

The high incidence of corruption and abuse of power has been the bane of human development from the time immemorial. Since then, mankind has been in constant search of  effective arrangements or measures to put such ugly tendency under check.

In the modern society, especially in a constitutional democracy. Impeachment is useful in ensuring the necessary accountability in governance.

Justice Karibi-Whyte described impeachment as a potential political weapon in the arsenal of the political party in power or in control of the legislature to impose sanctions on any erring public officer. According to him, it is a demonstration that no person is above the law and that every public officer is accountable under the constitution.

Impeachment is  entrenched in section 170 of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and was replicated in the 1999 constitution under review.

As it is understood in the United States, whose democratic system Nigeria adopts, impeachment presupposes culpable criminality which is more articulated by the form which it takes.” A written charge of the official’s alleged misconduct.” Crimes like corruption, perjury, obstruction of justice, assassination, nepotism among others, could elicit impeachment in the United States.

In Nigeria however, civil wrongs by government’s officials could attract impeachment.

Recently, the House of Representatives dangled impeachment threat before President Goodluck Jonathan over poor implementation of the 2012 budget.

The House of Representatives gave President Jonathan up till September to achieve 100 percent budget implementation or face impeachment. The Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila who initiated the impeachment move also accused the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of giving too many excuses and portraying the country as being broke.

A member of the House, Hon. Ogbuefi Odumgbai further accused the Finance Minister of violating the 2012 budget as passed by the National Assembly and the non-release of funds to ministries, departments and government agencies (MDAs) to implement projects. The House said its decision was informed by the fact that the growth in the economy has not reflected in the well-being of Nigerians.

Spokesman of the House, Hon. Zakari Mohammed in a statement in Abuja said the lawmakers were not unaware of the comments as well as what they called the deliberate plan by the Presidency to misinform the public on the rationale behind their nationalistic stand.

Reacting to the impeachment threat, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Reuben Abati, said the President himself was equally worried by the concern raised by the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly,  stressing the need for efficient budget implementation. Describing the  impeachment threat as ironic, Abati noted that the process of implementation of the 2012 budget was on-going.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala in her reaction, attributed the lawmakers’ action to their desperate expectation for constituency funds, pointing out that the funds for the first and second quarters had been released while that of third quarter would be released soon.

But the lawmakers have continued to reject her claims and warned the President to be careful about his aides or advisers.

There are fears that impeachment under the present democratic dispensation might throw the country into a state of anarchy.

Although the issue raised by the Senate and the House of Representatives over poor implementation of 2012 budget is crucial and in the general interest of the country, the labyrinth complexity that is seemingly inherent in the impeachment procedure seems not to have been brought to bear on the situation on ground.

Many people argue that impeachment as a constitutional process should not be turned to a weapon of political intimidation, oppression, suppression, harassment and/or witch-haunting of the president or governors.

To many others however, the threat by the House of Representatives, is not out of order. According to them, President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration has fallen short of the peoples’ expectations in terms of infrastructural development.

“Governance is all about development and a situation whereby security of lives and properties of the citizens is not guaranteed and no substantial and meaningful amenities to raise the living standard of Nigerians  could trigger the anger of the legislature as the representatives of the people”, says Mr George Alwell, a Port Harcourt based businessman.

He wanted the Federal Government to justify the huge budgets announced in 2011 and 2012, pointing at the East-West Road that has since been stalled due to lack of funds.

“If the revenues for the first and second quarters have been released as claimed by the Finance Minister, what has been done to show for it. What have the Ministries, Departments and Agents of government (MDAs) done with their allocations? I think the time has come when the President should sit up and re-examine his programmes and policies,” he said.

An enginer, Mr Friday Njoku however, punctured the arguments of the lawmakers. He said that the impeachment threat was ill-motivated. He challenged the lawmakers to prove how they came to the conclusion that the budget was poorly implemented.

“I think the sponsors of that impeachment threat were either ill-informed or were trying to be mischievous. The Finance Minister gave 56 per cent as the level of budget implementation. The House said it was 37 per cent. How did the House arrive at its own figure? Can they know better than the Finance Minister who is also the co-ordinating minister for the economy? I am yet to believe that the lawmakers do not have something up their sleeves,” Njoku said.

Njoku also argued that contrary to disappointment expresed by the lawmakers, President Jonathan has recorded a modest achievement since he assumed office as elected president.

Pointing to relative stable power supply in the country compared to the past and the stability of naira in recent times, Njoku said President Jonathan has performed above average. He would therefore want the lawmakers to shelve their sword and work harmoniously with the president towards the achievement of the budget and the overall growth of the economy.

Shedie Okpara