Some years back, there was a state law maker representing one of the constituencies in the House of Assembly of a state of the Federation of Nigeria I will call the State of the Living. This honourable member of the House of Assembly of that state emerged as his people's representative after his election to the state parliament, not on personal integrity but on the unfounded acknowledgement of his political party as the people's messiah in the state. The political practice in the State of the Living then was that any candidate presented by the party for any election would definitely win even if it was a goat. After all, this party was the messiah in the eyes of the people of the state who lived in hunger and despair about tomorrow.
Some months after he was sworn in as a honourable member of the state parliament, there came a petition before the state parliament by a concerned citizen of the state, who also happened to be a member of his constituency, urging the parliament to probe the reckless management of the state resources by the chief executive of the state and his deputy which had denied the state civil servants the payment of their salaries for eight months thereby plunging the state into a state of economic chaos. In his petition, the petitioner also called for the impeachment of the state chief executive and his deputy for this act of recklessness.
Despite the clamour for justice by the people of the State of the Living, the members of the state Parliament swept this petition for justice in the affairs of the state under the carpet by manipulation.
The honourable referred to above actually played the lead role in sabotaging this petition in connivance with his party members who constituted the majority in the state Parliament and who were in the same party with the state chief executive and his deputy. For this reason, his constituency members were displeased with him and his party who had promised them a fair representation in the state parliament before election.
As the members of this honourable's constituency felt cheated, they all resolved that they no longer wanted to be represented by this undependable legislator and they wanted this to take effect even before the expiration of his tenure. What could they do in the circumstances?
THE LEGAL POSITION
Section 110 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, is the law that applies to the above scenario as it relates to the decision of the legislator's constituency members to sack him as their representative. That section of the constitution provides that the registered voters who are members of the constituency of a member of a state House of Assembly, if they want to remove him from office as their representative, shall write a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman alleging their loss of confidence in the legislator. The INEC shall, within ninety days of the receipt of the petition, conduct a referendum in which just simple majority of the votes of the registered voters in the legislator's constituency is required to confirm the petition.
In the above scenario, the aggrieved members of the Honourable's constituency could sack him if they followed the above procedure as laid down in the constitution. It should be noted, however, that for for any person to validly exercise his right as a member of the legislator's constituency to remove his representative from office in the scenario, he must be a registered voter of that constituency.It is also instructive to note that the removal of a person from office as a law maker is constitutionally called recall. When removed from office, he is said to have been recalled.Constitutionally speaking, there is no limit to the number of legislators that can be recalled at a time.In other words, if all the constituencies both at the federal and the state levels in Nigeria of today recall all their representatives, the Nigerian Constitution does not forbid it.
Further, the same Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria also has a similar provision on the power to recall federal law makers in section 69.
I am of the humble view that recall is a constitutional power that the Nigerian people have over their legislators but which is yet to be tapped into due to the high level of poverty and ignorance among Nigerians. Indeed, if the electorate make use of this power at its disposal, the president and the governors of the states of the Federation of Nigeria shall be cautioned against the habit of buying the Nigerian legislators in their own selfish interest.
See you again in my next post.
Thank you for your attention.
Some months after he was sworn in as a honourable member of the state parliament, there came a petition before the state parliament by a concerned citizen of the state, who also happened to be a member of his constituency, urging the parliament to probe the reckless management of the state resources by the chief executive of the state and his deputy which had denied the state civil servants the payment of their salaries for eight months thereby plunging the state into a state of economic chaos. In his petition, the petitioner also called for the impeachment of the state chief executive and his deputy for this act of recklessness.
Despite the clamour for justice by the people of the State of the Living, the members of the state Parliament swept this petition for justice in the affairs of the state under the carpet by manipulation.
The honourable referred to above actually played the lead role in sabotaging this petition in connivance with his party members who constituted the majority in the state Parliament and who were in the same party with the state chief executive and his deputy. For this reason, his constituency members were displeased with him and his party who had promised them a fair representation in the state parliament before election.
As the members of this honourable's constituency felt cheated, they all resolved that they no longer wanted to be represented by this undependable legislator and they wanted this to take effect even before the expiration of his tenure. What could they do in the circumstances?
THE LEGAL POSITION
Section 110 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, is the law that applies to the above scenario as it relates to the decision of the legislator's constituency members to sack him as their representative. That section of the constitution provides that the registered voters who are members of the constituency of a member of a state House of Assembly, if they want to remove him from office as their representative, shall write a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman alleging their loss of confidence in the legislator. The INEC shall, within ninety days of the receipt of the petition, conduct a referendum in which just simple majority of the votes of the registered voters in the legislator's constituency is required to confirm the petition.
In the above scenario, the aggrieved members of the Honourable's constituency could sack him if they followed the above procedure as laid down in the constitution. It should be noted, however, that for for any person to validly exercise his right as a member of the legislator's constituency to remove his representative from office in the scenario, he must be a registered voter of that constituency.It is also instructive to note that the removal of a person from office as a law maker is constitutionally called recall. When removed from office, he is said to have been recalled.Constitutionally speaking, there is no limit to the number of legislators that can be recalled at a time.In other words, if all the constituencies both at the federal and the state levels in Nigeria of today recall all their representatives, the Nigerian Constitution does not forbid it.
Further, the same Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria also has a similar provision on the power to recall federal law makers in section 69.
I am of the humble view that recall is a constitutional power that the Nigerian people have over their legislators but which is yet to be tapped into due to the high level of poverty and ignorance among Nigerians. Indeed, if the electorate make use of this power at its disposal, the president and the governors of the states of the Federation of Nigeria shall be cautioned against the habit of buying the Nigerian legislators in their own selfish interest.
See you again in my next post.
Thank you for your attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment