A Rivers elder statesman, Wenendah Wali, has opined that the state lawmakers are determined to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara over the allegations of gross misconduct.
Naijaonpoint reports that Wali, in an interview with Daily Post, said, despite the stance of the Rivers Assembly, it would be difficult to determine whether the impeachment move against Fubara will scale through.
According to Wali, the majority vote that will determine whether Fubara should be impeached is not within the jurisdiction of the lawmakers but within the seven-man panel that the chief justice will constitute.
He said, “You and I know that one plus one is not two in politics in Nigerian politics. So a lot of funny things happen that you can’t explain.
“But in the process of impeachment, it’s a purely constitutional matter and there are stages equally clearly stipulated to arriving at the point of impeachment.
“From the motions and the House of Assembly, to the notice of impeachment to the governor, to the third vote, to the CJ, committee and all of those, so those things actually limit the purvey of ordinary speculations.
“For example, if the assembly has written to the CJ to constitute a committee of seven Nigerians or people with integrity, I’m not in a position to begin to speculate on what their thinking will be, so it’s actually a difficult question to arrive at if they’re going to succeed or not.
“Everything squarely depends on the CJ right now and the panel that he constitutes. If they look at the terms or the grounds for impeachment and see that the governor actually breached those grounds, every member of the committee will vote.
“And the majority vote will determine whether the governor should be impeached or not. Don’t forget that their vote is final. The assembly cannot overrule them.
“But if they say the governor can be impeached, the governor is guilty of the offenses, then they finally return back to the assembly who will now say fine, we vote for his impeachment or can they decide to say, okay, we want him, he shouldn’t do it next time.
“That was what happened to President Trump in the U.S. He was impeached, but not removed from office, so that’s a bit difficult.
“It’s a bit difficult to say whether they are going to succeed or not. Is the assembly determined to remove him? At this point, the answer is yes.
“Have they been able to convince the CJ to consider a committee?
“So until the CJ decides to say, I’m going to institute the committee or not, every other thing will be widely speculated.”