The word impeachment was uncommon in the Nigerian political space until 1981, when Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the first Executive Governor of Kaduna State, was impeached. His removal from the high office was not because of any fraudulent practice or misapplication of funds, but due to political differences between the Executive and the opposition-dominated Legislature in the state.

Balarabe Musa was elected on the platform of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), founded by the late Mallam Aminu Kano, a grass-roots politician based in Kano. However, the Kaduna State House of Assembly was populated by members of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). So you have the Executive headed by a PRP faithful and the Legislature by members of the NPN, which was then the ruling party at the federal level. Chief Adisa Akinloye, an Ibadan indigene and a lawyer, was the National Chairman of the NPN. The party controlled the centre. Alhaji Shehu Shagari, from Sokoto State, was President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

One Alhaji Dan-Musa Iro, Speaker of Kaduna State House of Assembly, never hid his disdain for the people-oriented PRP Governor. On one or two occasions, when Balarabe Musa forwarded the list of commissioners for confirmation; it was reportedly “turned-down” by the State Assembly, because the governor did not include members of the National Party of Nigeria as commissioners. Of course, his reason made sense to distinguished minds. The governor’s argument was that, if he appointed NPN members as commissioners, their loyalty will be to their party, the NPN, and not PRP which appointed them. In truth, that made political sense. The governor decided to work with special advisers, instead of commissioners. And that was the beginning of “Things Fall Apart” in the state, and his subsequent impeachment. Balarabe Musa’s decision was supported by the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) governors and leader of the party, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a legal luminary, and the two Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) governors.

At that time, there was an active Progressives Alliance made up of the five UPN governors (namely, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Lagos State; Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, Ogun State; Chief Bola Ige, popularly known as Cicero of Esa-Oke, old Oyo State; Prof Ambrose Alli, Bendel State, and Chief Papa Michael Ajasin, old Ondo State) with two governors of the GNPP founded by Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri, the apostle of ‘Politics without bitterness.’ The two GNPP governors were Alhaji Mohammedu Goni of old Borno State and Alhaji Abubakar Barde, old Gongola State. The PRP governors were Alhaji Abubakar Rimi of Kano State and Alhaji Babarabe Musa. Three Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) governors - whose alliance did not last the duration of that dispensation were - Chief Solomon Lar of Plateau State, Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe of old Imo State, and Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo of old Anambra State.

It is important to explain why the NPP participation in the alliance did not last. Initially, the Nigerian Peoples Party was founded by Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri. Alhaji invited Dr Nnamdi Azikwe and a popular Lagosian, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya. However, along the line, there were irreconcilable differences between the two elder statesmen (Waziri & Dr Azikiwe). Consequently, Waziri had to break away to found the Great Nigerian People’s Party, of which he became the chairman cum presidential candidate of the party. On the other hand, Chief Ogunsanya became the National Chairman of NPP with Dr Nmandi Azikiwe as its presidential candidate. NPP went on, after the break from the alliance, to romance with the ruling NPN. With that, NPP got two ministerial slots at the federal.

The UPN states, which Dr Tai Solarin later named in his popular Monday column in the Nigerian Tribue, as LOOBO States, jointly owned Odua Group of Companies, the parent company of defunct Sketch Group of Newspapers. The Nigerian Tribune, largely owned by Chief Awolowo, with Chief Oluwole Awolowo as Publisher (representing the interest of the Awolowo dynasty) and Felix Adenaike as Editor-in-Chief. These two Ibadan-based vibrant newspapers gave maximum publicity to the activities of the Progressives Alliance, and daily updated their readers with happenings at the floor of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, regarding their unpopular decision to impeach the governor at all cost.

Consequently, in June 1981, Governor Balarabe Musa was impeached at the age of 45, thus becoming the first executive governor in the history of Nigerian politics, to be so impeached.

The deputy governor, Alhaji Abba Musa Rimi, a fine gentleman who was also a member of Peoples Redemption Party, was subsequently sworn-in as executive governor. Governor Musa Rimi reportedly danced to the tune of the NPN-led State House of Assembly.

That was the only impeachment that took place in the Second Republic. However, on the return of civilian rule in 1999, the political landscape has witnessed about six impeachments of governors and deputy governors. Our conversation here is primarily on governors, not deputy governors. That is the reason why I shall not talk about the impeachment threat the Obasanjo presidency also experienced at the tail end of his first tenure.

Of all the impeachments, it was that of Diepreye Solomon Alamieyeseigha, first executive governor of Bayelsa State, that had international dimension. He was found with huge sums of foreign currency in his possession at the Heathrow Airport in London, which runs counter to British laws.

“Governor Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, a staunch member of the PDP (popularly known as DSP alias Governor-General) was detained in London on charges of money laundering in September 2005. At the time of his arrest, Metropolitan Police was reported to have found about £1million in cash in his London home. Later, they found a total of £1.8 million ($3.2m) in cash and bank accounts. He was found to own four homes in London worth an alleged £10 million. His state's monthly federal allocation for the last six years has been in the order of £32 million. He jumped bail in December 2005 from the United Kingdom, by allegedly disguising himself as a woman, though Alamieyeseigha later denied this claim. The then Bayelsa governor was impeached on allegations of corruption on December 9, 2005.” (Courtesy, Google). The deputy governor, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, was sworn-in as the substantive executive governor of Bayelsa State.

Permit me to digress a little, to say one or two things about our former president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan. By every standard, Jonathan is a gentleman, peaceful, and of tremendous unassuming disposition. That he voluntarily relinquished power in 2005 without pressure on him, consequently averting anarchy and genocide in the country. Sir, your name shall be written in the finest pages of history. Posterity will be kind to you and God will constantly be fair to you. Joy and peace shall never depart from your home.

“Governor Ayodele Peter Fayose (a radical member of the PDP) became the second Executive Governor of Ekiti on 29 May 2003, after defeating the then incumbent governor, Niyi Adebayo, a man of humble, urbane and humane character, in the Ekiti State governorship elections. However, Governor Fayose could not complete his tenure as a result of his impeachment on 16 October 2006” (Courtesy, Google) for a number of reasons: ranging from outright fraudulent and sharp financial practices, to controversial poultry project, which claimed several billons without corresponding evidence. Immediately after his impeachment, President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the sitting president, declared “A state emergency in Ekiti State; consequently appointed Maj-Gen Adetunji Olurin (retd), an indigene of Ilaro in Ogun State and one-time military administrator of old Oyo State as the Sole Administrator of Ekiti State. Before his impeachment, Fayose had instigated the impeachment of his deputy, a surveyor by trade.

In the case of Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye, an unassuming member of the PDP and executive governor of Plateau State, between 1999 – 2003 and 2003 to May 2007, due to persistent communal clashes between Christians and Muslims in the state, which claimed many lives, and properties worth several millions destroyed. The government at the centre felt the Governor did not address the frequent clashes appropriately. So President Obasanjo declared “A state of emergency in the Plateau,” and went ahead to appoint a retired Major-General, who once governed the state as military administrator and later Chief of Army Staff (COAS) between Nov 1993 and August 1994, from Kogi State, as Sole Administrator between November 18, 2004 and November 18, 2006. “Dariye was impeached on November 13, 2006. His deputy, Dr. Michael Botmang, became the new governor. On March 10, 2007, after a Court of Appeal ordered Dariye reinstated as governor, the Plateau State Government announced its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. On 27 April 2007, the Supreme Court refused the appeal of the Plateau State Government and ordered the reinstatement of Dariye with immediate effect. Following his reinstatement, Dariye's term of office as Governor of Plateau State concluded on 29 May 2007” (Courtesy, Google).

“Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, a medical doctor, who retired as deputy-director, from the Federal Ministry of Health, turned to politics, becoming a founding member of the People's Democratic Party. By 1999, he was Assistant National Secretary and Zonal Secretary of PDP in the South-east region of the country. In 2003, he was elected Governor of Anambra State in controversial circumstances. He quickly broke ranks with his political godfather, Chris Uba, brother of Andy Uba, who was Special Adviser to President Obasanjo on Domestic Affairs (additional emphasis mine). There was an unsuccessful attempt on 10 July 2003 to have Ngige removed from office, through a fabricated letter of resignation which the State Assembly accepted” (Courtesy, Google). In fact, Chris Ngige became the first sitting governor in Nigeria’s political history to be abducted from office, despite security operatives around him, by characters described as “political thugs.”

This political excursion is necessary in view of the on-going “irreconcilable differences” that is playing out in the PDP where Senator Ali Modu Sherriff and Senator Ahmed Maikarfi are at loggerheads.

Chief Rasidi Adewole Ladoja, was a businessman before he became the executive governor of Oyo State on May 29, 2003 as PDP flag-bearer. “Rashidi Ladoja was elected Governor of Oyo State in April 2003 on the PDP platform, and took office on 29 May 2003. He was supported by Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, a PDP power broker in the state. By August 2004, Ladoja and Adedibu were locked in a fierce struggle over allocation of government appointees. Ladoja was not supported by the party in this dispute. In an interview in late 2005, then PDP national chairman, Dr Ahmadu Ali, said that Rasheed Ladoja should take instructions from Lamidi Adedibu” (Courtesy, Google). “On 12 January 2006, Ladoja was impeached by Oyo State legislators and forced out of office. The impeachment may have been due to the argument between Ladoja and Adedibu. His deputy, Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, was sworn-in as the new governor. On November 1, 2006, the Appeal Court in the State capital, Ibadan, declared the impeachment null and illegal, but advised parties to the dispute to wait for confirmation of this decision by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the decision on November 11, 2009, and Ladoja officially resumed office on December 12, 2006.” (Courtesy, Google.)

I remember, in one of his interviews granted to a television station, Chief Lamidi Ariyibe Akanji Adedibu, popularly known as the strong man of Ibadan politics and the Alaafin Molete, an ardent member of the PDP, told, disdainfully, his audience, not verbatim, “Chief Rashidi Ladoja is a stingy man who refused to give him just N60 million from the security vote.”

Peter Obi stood in the Anambra State governorship election as candidate for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2003, but his rival, Chris Ngige of the People's Democratic Party, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). After nearly three years of litigation, Ngige’s victory was overturned by the Court of Appeal on March 15 2006. Obi took office on March 17 2006. On November 2, 2006, he was impeached by the State House of Assembly, after seven months in office and replaced the next day by Mrs Virginia Etiaba, his deputy, making her the first-ever female governor in Nigeria's history. Obi successfully challenged his impeachment and was re-instated as the governor on February 9, 2007 by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu. Etiaba handed power back to him after the court ruling. He once again left office on May29, 2007 following the general elections, which Andy Uba won. Obi returned to the courts once more, this time contending that the four-year tenure he had won in the 2003 elections only started to run when he took office in March 2006. On June 14, 2007 the Supreme Court of Nigeria upheld Obi's contention and returned him to office. This brought to an abrupt end the tenure of Obi’s successor, Andy Uba, whose April 14, 2007 election the Supreme Court nullified on the grounds that Obi's four-year tenure should have remained undisturbed until March 2010. On February 7 2010, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Peter Obi the winner of the February 6, 2010 gubernatorial elections, where he defeated Prof Charles Soludo (PDP), former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This election victory gave Governor Obi an additional four years as the governor of Anambra State. On March 17, 2014, Peter Obi served out his second term and handed over the governorship to Willie Obiano.

Conclusion

The purpose of this excursion is to bring to the fore the failing of the People’s Democratic Party, as the major opposition in the country. During the Obasanjo presidency, he dealt decisive with corrupt governors, no corrupt issues was tolerated, or treated lightly and no governor was spared. In all the impeachment cases, only that of Balarabe Musa was different (PRP versus NPN). All others were strictly PDP affairs. Today, it is a sad commentary that the PDP as a party is on a “face-saving mission” from the litany of corrupt cases against its members, instead of playing the veritable role of a major opposition, as was the case in the days of National Party of Nigeria versus Unity Party of Nigeria. In those days, the Unity Party of Nigeria had offices known as “Director of Organisation” headed by the fire-spitting and radical optimist, Chief Ebenezer Babatope (also known as Ebino Topsy in his popular column) and Director of Research/Publicity, headed by a respectable elder from Igboland, revered Chief M C K Ajuluchukwu. These two officers in the UPN headquarters in Lagos constantly and regularly dished out, via paid advertisement in newspapers, constructive, topical issues for the ruling party to consider and at the end, gave viable suggestions on such topical issues.

The media, as gate-keeper of the nation’s conscience, also played significant roles. I will cite just one instance to support this, due to lack of space. In 1981 or thereabout, the Cameroonian gendarmes went to Bakassi and killed six Nigerian soldiers on ‘peace-keeping mission’ there. Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari, who was the president then, said he was going to Addis-Ababa, the regional headquarters of Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now African Union (AU)) to register the country’s displeasure.

Some days later, the management of BCOS, Ile-Akede, Ibadan, went to Ikenne to know from the legal icon, Chief Obafemi Awolowo - the presidential candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria, who lost to Shagari in the general elections – his position, if in his judgment the decision of the president was right. Chief Awolowo did not think so. In his own opinion, he said, if he were the president, he would have ordered the Nigerian military to go to Bakassi, kill equal numbers of the Cameroonian gendarmes, then go to Addis-Ababa to sort out our differences.

Today, do we have opposition in this class?

One more take, please. The Buhari administration promised unemployed graduates/youths a monthly stipend of N5,000. That certainly, in the eyes of economists, is not a well-articulated programme. In my considered opinion, I would suggest the total budget for this programme in a year, I understand is in the region of N500 billion, should be redirected and given to textile industries and such other related industries, which direly need it, as “soft-loans”. That will attract simple interest, to kick-start their moribund industries. A loan of about N20 billion each will go a long way to boosting the country’s economy and offer viable employment to this army of unemployed youths. This loan should enjoy about three to five years moratorium. Any youth with viable project plan can also be granted “soft-loan” with simple interest as well. For this category, about N30 million is suggested with a moratorium with two to three years moratorium.

The PDP should step up its opposition role squarely, be a viable opposition.

At this juncture, it is only proper to end this conversation with some wise quotations taken from the inaugural speech of President Donald Trump:

“We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it. The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action

“Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. So, to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mount to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words. You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way. Together, we will make American strong again. We will make wealth again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again.”

May God bless our country, Nigeria, with committed leaders. Leaders who are concerned with matters pertaining to the less-privileged among us. Leaders who are concerned with our growth and development. Not leaders who are self-centred. Not leaders who plunder our commonwealth. God be merciful to us your people in Nigeria.

•Balogun (BenPino) writes from Wuse District in Abuja. He can be reached via 08037879275; bernardbalogun1@yahoo.com

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