In the last few days, the Lagos House of Assembly had been in the news over the impeachment, removal and return of the speaker of the Assembly. This raises questions in the mind of people on the process of impeachment in a legislative arm of government which is at the forefront of the impeachment process for all other arms of government.
The Constitution provides for the conditions upon which the leaders of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly may vacate office, under Section 50(2) and 92(2) when it stipulates the conditions of “if he ceases to be a member of the House, for any other reason other than the dissolution of the House; when the House first sits after any dissolution of the House or if he is removed from office by a resolution of the House passed by two-third majority of the members of the House.
Aside from the leaders of legislative houses, members of the Houses can also be removed from office. This process is referred to as the “recall” of a member of a legislative body. The Constitution provides for the process of recalling a member of the Senate and House of Representative under Section 69 and the same process applies to members of the House of Assembly of a state as provided under Section 110.
The process starts with a petition signed by more than half of the registered voters in a constituency, which is presented to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The signatures would then be verified to ensure that none is fake and all signatories are on the electoral register.
Within 90 days of receiving the petition, INEC will conduct a referendum in the constituency. If a simple majority vote in favour of removing the representative, then the INEC Chairman will issue a Certificate of Recall to the presiding officer of the legislative house to remove the representative.
Afterwards, a by-election would be conducted to elect the next representative. Note that the removed representative can still run if his or her party supports and nominates him/her for the election.
However, despite attempts, no recall has been successful in Nigeria because of what has been described as the daunting procedure involved.
Similarly, See section 68(1)(g) and 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution provides that “If a member of the National Assembly (Senate or House of Representatives) or House of assembly of a state defects from the party that sponsored them into office without any merger or division in the party, they will vacate their seat.”
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