Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has shed light on the constitutional hurdles that lawmakers loyal to former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike must overcome to impeach the current governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
News About Nigeria reports that Falana made the comments while appearing on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics.
Falana said that pro-Wike lawmakers would need a two-thirds majority of the legislators to succeed in their impeachment bid.
He stressed that this requirement is explicitly stated in the Constitution and cannot be circumvented.
Falana said, “Again, we have to look at the Constitution. Before the House can conduct proceedings, the House must form a quorum to conduct the business of the House, and a quorum in the Constitution is defined. But if you want to remove the governor by way of impeachment, again, you must have a two-thirds majority of the legislature. This is very clear.”
The senior advocate also reiterated his stance that the 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have effectively lost their positions. He argued that the Supreme Court’s precedent in the case of Adetunde and the Labour Party clarifies that lawmakers can only retain their seats if their original party is undergoing a division, which is not currently the case with the PDP.
He said, “The 25 lawmakers who defected have lost their seats. They have lost their rights to remain members of the assembly.”
This development comes amid an ongoing political conflict between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The controversy further intensified with Victor Oko-Jumbo’s election as the new speaker of the assembly, representing the Bonny constituency.
Oko-Jumbo was elected by the faction loyal to Governor Fubara.
Recently, the Rivers State House of Assembly, loyal to Wike, accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of dishonesty, threatening to resume impeachment proceedings against him if he continues to breach the constitution.
The lawmakers accused the governor of refusing to hold up to his end of the Presidential Peace Accord, which he willfully signed without coercion.
The lawmakers threatened to resume the impeachment proceedings should Governor Fubara continue what they referred to as constant constitutional breaches.
