Section 176 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) established the office of the Governor of a state. While Section 176(1) states that “there shall be for each state of the Federation a Governor,” Section 176(2) adds that, “The Governor shall be the chief Executive of that state.” The nation’s groundnum also goes ahead to establish the qualifications and the process of election of the governor. For instance, a candidate to the office of a governor must be a citizen of Nigeria by birth; must have attained the age of 35 years; be a member of a political party and is sponsored by that party and must have been educated to at least School Certificate or its equivalent.
In Section 180(1, a, b,c,d) as well as Section 180(2 & 3), the constitution further provides details of the tenure of the office of a governor and conditions that could warrant a office holder to stay longer than the four years stipulated. This is stated in Section 180(3), where it is indicated that if the country is at war and the President believes that election may not be practicable, he may cause the National Assembly to extend the period of four years expressly provided by the constitution for anyone holding the office of the governor.
Just as the constitution provides for qualifications for the office of the governor, it also states the conditions for disqualification of the person so elected as governor. A long list of provisions contained in Section 182(1a-j) and 182(2abc) as well as 182(3) spell out the conditions that disqualify candidates from holding the office of a governor. This ranges from acquisition of citizenship of another country, to criminal conviction, resignation, death or having been sworn in more than twice.
Section 182(3) specifically disqualifies a person, who has been sworn in to complete the term of another person who was elected governor shall not be elected more than once.
For elected governors and their deputies, however, the big elephant in the room is Section 188(1-11), which spells out the procedures for impeachment of a governor or deputy governor. The bigger picture in the provisions is Section 188(10), which provides an ouster clause for court intervention in the process.
That said Section 188(10) reads: “No proceedings or determination of the panel or of the House of Assembly or any matter relating to such proceedings or determination shall be entertained or questioned in any court.”
