Festus Ogun
On Monday evening, some 19 members of the Imo State House of Assembly impeached the Deputy Governor of the state, Eze Madumere. This was sequel to an earlier order of the state High Court on Monday which restrained the lawmakers and the state Chief Judge, Paschal Nnadi, from any further action until after the determination of the matter before the court.
It is expedient to point out from onset that the process of impeaching a Deputy Governor is stated clearly under Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). However, our concern here is not about the constitutionality of the process but the gravity of going on with the impeachment despite the clear and unambiguous order of the court restraining the House and others from continuing with it.
By virtue of Section 6(6)(a) of the Constitution, the court has the inherent power to sanction and make orders which are to be obeyed. Like other authorities, members of the Imo State House of Assembly are not above the law and are duty bound to obey court orders. Thus, any action carried out by the House of Assembly in relation to the impeachment must not contradict the orders given by the court. And here, there is a rude and shameful contradiction of the order of the court by the House.
Since one cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand, the impeachment by the House, despite court’s order restraining them, is an abuse of legislative power, office and a gross misconduct that can warrant heavy sanctions on the lawmakers.
As Lord Denning succinctly puts it in MACFOY V. UAC LTD 1962 AC 153: “If an act is void, then it is in law a nullity. It is not only bad, but incurably bad. It is automatically null and void without more ado, though it is sometimes convenient to have the court declare it to be so. And every proceeding which is founded on it is also bad and incurably bad. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse.”
In the celebrated case of GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE V. OJUKWU (1986) 1 NWLR pt. 18, p.621 SC, the Supreme Court dwelt extensively on the need to obey court orders and its judgements. It was held that no person, body, institution or government should lend itself to frustrate and nullify the judgement and orders of court, for any reason whatsoever.
Similarly, Ubaezonu, JSC stated in NIGERIAN ARMY V. MOWARIN (1992) 4 NWLR Pt 235, p.345 CA that: “An order of court must be obeyed, even if such an order is perverse, until such a time that the order is set aside by a competent court”.
It is our opinion that Madumere’s impeachment cannot stand the test of legality because anything done out of illegality is illegal and cannot bear any lawful or acceptable fruit. Disobedience to court orders is unlawful. So, illegality cannot bring forth a lawful action.
Any person against whom an order is made is duty bound to obey it whether it favours his sentiments or not. So, for a case like this, any further action arising after the court had restrained the legislators from the impeachment will amount to a total nullity. It cannot stand! See OGUEBEGO V. PDP (2016) 4 NWLR (Pt. 1503) 446.
How can the Imo lawmakers move on with the impeachment despite the court’s order restraining them? Where did they get the power from? The impeachment holds no water since the court had already ripped them off the power to carry on with the impeachment. They only acted on the frolic of their own.
It is an aberration in a democracy for court orders to be flouted just to score cheap political points. Politics should not regulate law. It is the law that should regulate politics and political activities in the country. Obviously, the Imo State House of Assembly has acted ultra vires by flouting the court orders in this instant case.
The illegal impeachment is not only demeaning of a state legislative house that ought to serve as emulation in obedience to court rulings, it is also very shameful. It is equally laughable that some legislators in a country practising democracy can treat court orders with ignominy and expect that their actions will have the backing of law. I fear our democracy is in danger when lawmakers turn law breakers.
Even under our law, it is contempt for the Imo State House of Assembly to carry on with the proceeding despite the court’s order. What lawful action can be carried out under contempt?
From the foregoing, it is safe to say that the impeachment is not only illegal, unconstitutional and unjustifiable, it has equally revealed the level of our disregard to court’s decisions in this country.
It is submitted that regardless of the length of time between the period the order was given and the time the arbitrary impeachment was carried out, what matters is whether they had conducted themselves in a lawful manner, which in this case, they did not. Once the order of the court restraining them is still in operation, any impeachment or impeachment proceeding is void in law and will be of no effect whatsoever — on the Deputy Governor.
Ogun, a law student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, wrote in via festusogunlaw@gmail.com 09066324982
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