The impeachment leading to the removal from office of the now former Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Sunday Onyebuchi, provided much needed comic relief to a hard pressed nation last week. On a personal note, the hitherto unknown Onyebuchi has hopefully enjoyed his 15 hours of macabre fame. He had made it from “spare tyre to national recognition”.
Onyebuchi follows the precedent of removing meddlesome spare tyres previously set in Lagos, Osun, Imo and Abia which under Orji Kalu swept away two “recalcitrant” deputies. The template for removal has been assiduously worked out.
This is in contradistinction to the situation in the United States where only seven governors are known to have been removed from office as a result of high misdemeanour. Whatever his current travails, Onyebuchi has earned his place in the Guinness book of records. He is the first office holder to have been removed for being an amateur avian enthusiast.
The comic interlude is a reflection of the defect in our leadership selection and recruitment process. The candidate for the post of deputy governor usually arises from the horse trading involved in the governorship selection process. The political calculus often involves the political godfathers imposing their favoured hack on the ticket for “balancing.” The stage is set for what Machiavelli described in The Discourses as “The Law of Constant Reminders.” The friction between the Governor and his spare tyre invariably starts from day one. The source of the friction “of course” has nothing to do with the public interest.
This flawed system is underpinned by the erosion of the concept of the principle known as the separation of powers. With the governor controlling the exchequer, the legislative arm is very pliant; after all this is the age of ‘stomach infrastructure’. This is why not one Deputy Governor has been given a clean bill. The judiciary itself which is supposed to be the most important trajectory within the separation of powers tripod has hardly come out smelling of roses either. Too often, the Chief Judge does the hatchet job as the Chief Executioner.
This is why the recent events in Nasarawa State matters. In that state, “people’s power” and a very upright judiciary reinstated the efficacy of the rule of law and common sense. The lesson here is that only the collective intervention of civil society can defend the spirit of the constitution. For this reason, civil society must be continuously strengthened and encouraged.