Date Published: 03/13/10

Bayelsa Impeachment Saga: Yes! Another Hoax By Maxwell Ebipamowei

Guatama Buddha the Indian sage once said “do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.". In Nigeria, most people especially politicians do not adhere to the sane advise of Buddha. A huge segment of the political class seems to buy-into the Machiavellian scheme because they believe in the concept of the ‘end justifying the means’. Machiavellianism not tampered by reason soon degenerates to tyranny and tyrants are susceptible to vile propaganda. This  is more pronounced in Nigerian politics.

There are three types of politicians dotting Nigeria’s political landscape. The first group comprises people who go into politics for service. Such people are propelled by altruism, service, principles and the knack to bequeath a legacy to posterity. They constitute a tiny minority and a great many of them have expired. Politicians like Aminu Kano, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Awolowo and their contemporaries sought power not for power sake but for the service of humanity. These people moved into politics with their humanity, creativity and the penchant to serve the people.

The second typology comprises politicians who go into the vocation by accident because of loyalty to some politicians. Such people are tied to the apron string of theirgodfathers and they have no opinion of their own. They are like stooges who implement the will of their godfathers, often to the detriment of the people. When such politicians occupy any sensitive position, the rake the coffers at the sufferance of the people.

The third category consists of those who play survivalist politics. For this group, what matters to them is their stomach. Some call them bellyticians. They are not necessarily good party men, neither do they play any active part in politics, but they play a back-door role of misinformation, back-stabbing and rumour peddling. They identify powerful politicians and incite people against them. Like a Poctoholo, a character in one of James Hadley Chase’s novels, they constantly put fear in the minds of politicians and they get paid for it advocating fear and marketing mutual hatred. This category of politicians populate Nigeria; they constitute a huge chunk of the weather beaten politicians in Aso Rock doing battle with the progressive forces.

For some time now, the rumour mills are inundated with stories of impending impeachment of Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State. While this writer is not questioning the source of these wild rumours, it is pertinent to pinpoint that several mendacious rumours have been spread about the Governor of Bayelsa State. There were rumours that the Governor was caught doing narcotics abroad. This might have been a set-up by those who needed power by all means necessary. Again the rumour that Governor Timipre Sylva voted money to fight against his kinsman Ag. President Goodluck Jonathan is another gimmick to put asunder two brothers in high offices. To a great extent rumour mongering is an instrument of terror, because it psychologically creates a climate of fear and mutual suspicion among the target audience. Already, these wild rumours have divided Bayelsans and Ijaw people along both Party and factional lines. A divided Ijaw race can hardly extract reasonable concessions from the Nigerian State.

Rumours mongers are like serial killers. First they scare the hell out of people, and with the palpable fear aroused by the spectre of the marauding serial killer, the population becomes divided, traumatized and deluded. When the population is divided, polarized and dividing the population into an every-man-for-himself mentality. This is why rumour mongering is like an atom bomb, which destroys its target, and its radioactive rays continues to consume as many people as possible. If anyone is in doubt, ask the elders of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The rumour mongers are not done yet. Most of the national dailies are now awash with stories of plans to impeach Governor Timipre Sylva. For what, one may ask? What impeachable offence has Governor Sylva committed that would warrant his impeachment? This writer is not a legal practitioner, but from a lay man’s point of view, I know that the impeachment of a Governor or any public officer for that matter is only possible if such an officer has committed an impeachable offence- which amounts to gross misconduct.

To the best of my knowledge, the Executive and Legislative organs of government in Bayelsa State have an excellent working relationship. Apart from issues where the Governor can exercise his prerogative, the two arms of government work in harmony. Even the seemingly controversial Bond Financing initiative was debated, endorsed and passed into law by the House. Today, most of the Laws bothering on transparency, public procurement and accountability. In some States, Governors meddle in the affairs of the House and even make legislators their surrogates. Examples of States where there is frosty relationship between the two organs of government are legion. In some of these State House Speakers have been impeached several times and principal officers are changes very frequently. This has not happened in Bayelsa State. The major characteristic that distinguishes rumour from other types of reports is it bereft of any solid factual basis. It is this characteristic that has made the publishing of rumour a controversial practice among journalists.

In Bayelsa State, there is every reason to believe that Governor Timipre Sylva meant well for the development of the State but he brought in a lot of fifth columnists and ideologically bankrupt people into government. These people have succeeded in creating layers of inefficiency and bureaucratic impediments to policy implementation. Some people have observed that the Due Process Bureau and the Economic Team liabilities because they are not serving the interest of Bayelsa. This situation has to change for the better.

The Nigerian Constitution specifies that high government officials may be impeached for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours." What precisely constitutes "high crimes and misdemeanours" is, however, uncertain because the courts have not specifically defined or interpreted the term. If not that Governors enjoy immunity and can only be impeached on the ground of "high crimes and misdemeanours involving  the misuse of a politician's official powers, perjury or felony, I could have moved for his impeachment for sustaining those structures that are no good to good governance.

As a listening Governor, when a huge segment of the populace of the populace felt the Committee did not add any value to policy making and implementation, the Governor saw the need to weed out this layer of inefficiency. This is to ensure that government policies are people-driven and result-oriented. Now Governor Sylva reckons that Bayelsans can add value to good governance without necessarily belonging to Committees. Listening Governors are never impeached  because some petty-fogging politicians do not like their policies. Governors guided by higher principles can hardly commit offences that may subsume under gross misconduct neither will they orchestrate or take delight in impeaching any office holder in the Legislature.

What is more, even critics of Governor Sylva recognize the fact that he is an apostle of transparency and accountability. It was against this background that the administration established the  Bayelsa Expenditure and Transparency Initiative (BEITI) - an initiative of TheRevenue Watch Institute. BEITI is designed to play an advisory role and provide a platform for  multi-stakeholder involvement in evaluating the impact of budget implementation. BEITI is also  designed to play the role of capacity building to enhance community and civil society participation in the State's planning and budgeting process. Bayelsa State is one of the first States that evolved a  sustainable budget implementation template in the Nigeria. This is a positive achievement and not an impeachable offence.

Governor Sylva should remember that when a leader fails, no one spares a thought about the people who advised him to take certain actions. Special Advisers are supposed to be better grounded in specific areas than the person they are advising. This however is not the case in Bayelsa State. In most States of Nigeria, there is a shift from the appointment of mere politicians to technocrats.  Bayelsans look up to the appointment of more technocrats in government to serve the State better.

The Bayelsa State Government should strengthen the institutional structures that would guarantee fiscal responsibility within the scope of conventional budgetary discipline. Fiscal responsibility emphasizes due process and prudence in the use of resources. It is the imperatives of this ingredient of governance that prompted the Federal Government to set up the Due Process Unit and Price Intelligence Bureau to enhance transparency, competency and competitiveness in the Process of awarding contracts. The Federal Government also passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Public Procurement Act with a view to entrenching transparency in government official transactions. Hon. Afred Egba the Chairman House Committee on Finance and Appropriation attested to the fact that the rumours about impeachment are just a hoax because there has been no allegations of financial impropriety against the Sylva administration.

When militancy was the obstacle to development, the Timipre Sylva administration tackled the problem head-on more than any other Governor in the Niger Delta even before the Federal Government Amnesty programme was initiated. However, this is not enough. Governor Sylva should use his good offices to police all the Ministries to ensure they perform and give account of their stewardship. Bayelsa people need leadership that is people-oriented. The people need good governance through the entrenchment of transparency and accountability. Over the years people have learnt a hard lesson that impeachment has not brought about good governance. What Bayelsans need now is good governance and not impeachment, chaos and unnecessary power struggle – that would over heat the polity.