“The Attempt at Impeachment of Fubara by Wike and his 27 Law-Makers: The Self-Exposure of Wike as a Rainmaker with Little Regard for the Laws of Nigeria and for the Welfare of Rivers State Indigenes”

By Tonye Clinton Jaja

Rain is supposed to a natural phenomenon, that falls after the clouds have absorbed enough vapour from the seas and oceans in accordance with the water cycle.

However, in history there are some group of humans named “rainmakers” who make a profit from their so-called ability to invoke and cause rainfall by their performance of certain rituals.

Rainmaker as used here is a metaphor for a person or group of persons who attempt by rituals and and deployment of unnatural means to cause the occurrence of an event that should happen naturally (all for the selfish and pecuniary benefit of the said rainmaker)!

Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (NEW) and Amaewhule and the 26 law-makers of the Rivers State House of Assembly fit perfectly into this category of rainmakers.

The Oxford Dictionary defines a “Rainmaker” as follows: “a person who attempts to cause rain to fall, either by rituals …”

By his failed attempts to cause the impeachment of Governor Fubara, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (NEW) has exposed himself as the rainmaker of Rivers State that is “a person who attempts to cause rain to fall, either by rituals”!!!

There is reliable rumour that NEW (in accordance with his title as a “rainmaker”) recently paid for persons to travel to Mecca to offer prayers and rituals for the success of his plans to impeach Governor Fubara.

In addition to the spiritual rituals that NEW has been deploying to achieve the impeachment of Governor Fubara, NEW is also working hard to goad Governor Fubara to commit an impeachable offence which would provide evidence for the Amaewhule led Rivers State House of Assembly to commence the impeachment process.

In Punch newspaper dated 16th March, 2025, Wike is reported to have said about the impeachment of Governor Fubara as follows: “Fubara should be impeached if he has committed an impeachable offence.

“Politics is not play. If he has done something to be impeached, let them impeach him. It’s not a criminal offence.” 

It follows logically that the recent words and actions of Amawhule and 26 law-makers of the Rivers State House of Assembly are all geared towards goading Governor Fubara to commit an impeachable offence such as failure to re-present the 2025 Appropriation Bill (Budget) of Rivers State or failure to comply with the Supreme Court judgment on the conduct of elections for the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Rivers State.

Unwittingly, both Wike and Amaewhule and the 26 law-makers of the Rivers State House of Assembly have provided evidence that what is paramount to them is not the welfare of the indigenes of Rivers State, considering that they have rebuffed several attempts by the Governor to submit the 2025 budget. This is bearing in mind that the said 2025 budget contains the salaries of all the civil servants of Rivers State who are the breadwinners of the majority of the indigenes of Rivers State.

Another evidence that both Wike and the 26 law-makers of the Rivers State House of Assembly have unwittingly provided is that they are not interested in abiding with the SPIRIT AND LETTER of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and other relevant laws that apply to impeachment of Governors. They are more interested in complying with the LETTER of the law (technicalities) rather than the SPIRIT of the law (the reason and purpose).

For example, Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, which stipulates both the grounds and the procedure for the impeachment and removal from office of either the State Governor or the Deputy Governor of any State of Nigeria, clearly states that “gross misconduct” is the ground for such impeachment.

The SPIRIT behind this specific provision is that such a Governor or Deputy Governor must have CONSISTENTLY committed egregious acts of gross misconduct (not a singular act).

Wike and Amaewhule and the 26 law-makers are looking at the LETTER of this provision from the point-of-view of technicalities, to paint the picture that Governor Fubara has committed gross misconduct by his alleged refusal to re-submit the 2025 budget to the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Another example is that as part of the procedures listed under Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Chief Judge of Rivers State is supposed to play a role in any impeachment process.

The SPIRIT behind this provision is that the judiciary, as an independent arbiter of any disputes between the Executive and Legislative Arms of government, should examine whether the legislature’s allegations of gross misconduct against the Governor are valid or frivolous or brought in bad faith.

Wike and Amaewhule and the 26 law-makers are looking at only the LETTER of this provision; that is the reason why they have tried (unsuccessfully) to blackmail the Chief Judge by bringing up allegations of age falsification against the said Chief Judge.

It is easy to see through their ruse, considering that the same Wike and Amaewhule were the principal characters that recommended and confirmed the appointment of the said Chief Judge in the year 2021.

It is an indictment upon Wike that in his role as Governor in the year 2021, he failed to engage the services of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) to undertake a preliminary vetting of the CV and employment history of the said Chief Judge (one of the three most important public officials of Rivers State, apart from the Governor himself and the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly).

By traditions of public service, the DSS usually undertakes a background check of the CVs of all public officials before their confirmation by the Rivers State House of Assembly. So if in the year 2021, by the DSS preliminary background check of the CV of the said Chief Judge of Rivers then, it is either the DSS did not do their job or Wike and Amaewhule did not bother to ask the DSS to do their job then.

In the field of legislative drafting, it is a generally accepted principle that it is impossible to draft a perfect piece of legislation or Constitution. This is the reason why the legislature needs to undertake regular and periodic amendment and alterations of both the legislation and Constitutions of different countries.

In terms of the provisions of Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, it has rightly been suggested that certain aspects ought to be altered based on lessons learned from other countries.

Below are some aspects as follows:

“In Nigeria, Governor or his Deputy can be removed from office whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by “not less than one-third of the members” (⅓) of the House of Assembly stating that the holder of such office is guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office with detailed particulars of the alleged “gross misconduct” specified. Compared with Article 61 of the Constitution of India and Sections 2&3 of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, the Nigerian threshold of ⅓ members to initiate impeachment proceedings is lower than the ⅔ threshold stated under both the Indian and Philippines constitutions.”

Provision of a definite act of conduct that constitutes the definition of “gross misconduct” is another aspect that requires alteration. This is reflected below.

Further, section 188(11) further states that “gross misconduct” means a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion in the House of Assembly to gross misconduct. This wide latitude accorded to Nigerian legislators can be compared with Section 2 in Philippines stating thus:

“The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office, on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. All other public officer and employees may be removed from office as provided by law, but not by impeachment.”

On a final note, everyone can learn from the history of impeachment of Governors and their deputies that it is an uphill task. It is not as easy as NEW and his 27 Law-Makers are envisaging it.

Below is a breakdown as follows:

List of Governors Impeached by the legislators of their State Houses of Assembly since 1999 till 2024 includes:

1. Ayo Fayose (Born 15 November 1960) was impeached as the Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria on 16 October 2006 on alleged mismanagement of public funds and serial killings;
2. Peter Obi (born 19 July 1961) was impeached as the Executive Governor of Anambra State on 2 November 2006 on alleged gross misconduct;
3. Joshua Dariye, was impeached as the Executive Governor of Plateau State, Nigeria on 13 November 2006 on alleged siphon of public fund and money laundering in London;
4. Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, was impeached as the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Nigeria on 12 January 2006 by 18 Legislators;
5. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was impeached as the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, Nigeria on 9 December 2005 on alleged corruption which includes, theft of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering;
6. Murtala Nyako was impeached as the Executive Governor of Adamawa State, Nigeria in July 2014 on alleged corruption which includes theft of public funds, abuse of office and money laundering;

The list of impeached deputy governors includes in chronological order from 1999 to 2024 are as follows:*

1. Femi Pedro (Lagos);
2. Iyiola Omisore (Osun),
3. Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele (Lagos),
4. Chris Ekpenyong (Akwa Ibom),
5. Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe (Abia);
6. Abiodun Aluko (Ekiti), Biodun Olujinmi (Ekiti),
7. The late Garba Gadi (Bauchi)
8. Peremobowei Elebi (Bayelsa)
9. Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba):
10. Jude Agbaso (Imo);
11. Sunday Onyebuchi (Enugu);
12. Ali Olanusi (Ondo);
13. Eze Madumere (Imo);
14. Simon Achuba (Kogi);
15. Rauf Olaniyan (Oyo);
16. Mahdi Aliyu Gusau (Zamfara);
17. Philip Shaibu (Edo)

Among these, only a handful – including the late Garba Gadi (Bauchi), Eyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe (Abia), Peremobowei Elebi (Bayelsa), Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba), Sunday Onyebuchi (Enugu), Ali Olanusi (Ondo), Jude Agbaso (Imo), Eze Madumere (Imo), Simon Achuba (Kogi), and Mahdi Aliyu Gusau (Zamfara) – successfully overturned their impeachments through court orders. Unfortunately, none was reinstated due to various circumstances.

• Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja is the Executive Director at Nigerian Law Society (NLS).

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of CITY LAWYER Magazine, its publishers, agents or privies.