“A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to delete the proviso to Section 11 (4) to enable the National Assembly to remove a Governor or Deputy Governor of a State in Appropriate circumstances and for other related matters” (HB:794) sponsored by Hon. Edward Pwajok (PDP: Plateau) and Hon. Ali Isa J.C (PDP: Gombe) has been indefinitely withdrawn by the House of Representatives.
Leading the debate, at the House plenary session of Wednesday, April 5th 2017, Hon. Pwajok stated that the Bill seeks to confer the National Assembly with the powers to remove the Governor or his Deputy if they constitute a threat to public security or responsible for the crisis in the State House of Assembly. He noted that this amendment has become necessary considering the fact that Section 11 (4) of the 1999, Constitution (as amended) explicitly prevents the National Assembly from doing so.
Section 11(4) and its proviso states that:
“At any given time when any House of Assembly of a State is unable to perform its functions by the situation prevailing in that State, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that State with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or expedient until such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the State:
Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring on the National Assembly power to remove the Governor or the Deputy Governor of the State from office.”
However, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC: Lagos) strongly opposed the position of the bill. Hon Gbajabiamila stated that such conferment has “no legal, legislative and moral justification” and as such the Bill is considered “dead on arrival”. Laying emphasis on the Bill title, he highlighted its ambiguity by demanding to know at what point the National Assembly could determine when a circumstance warranting such action was appropriate or not . Furthermore, he elaborated that the State Houses of Assembly had already been given the powers to impeach a State Governor or Deputy, and that any move by the National Assembly to usurp such powers would violate the principle of federalism.
Following the expression of similar opposing views by other Members of the House, Hon. Pwajok requested that the Bill be withdrawn indefinitely.
