On Monday, the Rivers State House of Assembly witnessed a significant shift in party representation as 27 lawmakers from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The move, which has got many Nigerians talking, reignited discussions on the possibility of impeaching Siminalayi Fubara, the current Rivers State Governor.

Under the leadership of Martin Amaewhule, the speaker of the state’s house of assembly, the lawmakers officially announced their defection to the APC after the house’s morning session ended on Monday.

The move is suspected to be linked to a perceived discord between Fubara and Nyesom Wike, the governor’s predecessor and current FCT minister.

Before this latest development, the Rivers State House of Assembly under Amaewhule’s speakership served Fubara an impeachment notice in October. However, the ensuing chaos and Ehie Ogerenye Edison’s self-declaration as the speaker of the house rendered the attempt ineffective.

With the defection of 27 lawmakers out of 32, the APC now holds the majority in the Rivers House. Impeachment discussions have, therefore, regained relevance among netizens.

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Between Friday and Monday, some lawmakers from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the APC announced their defection to the PDP.

Prominent among the lawmakers are Patricia Ogbonnaya, a former governorship candidate of the SDP; and Wilson Karibo, former chairman of the Ahoada-West Local Government Area.

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WHAT THE CONSTITUTION SAYS ABOUT IMPEACHMENT

According to section 188 of the Nigerian constitution, the process of impeachment begins when the public officer to be impeached is served a written notice of alleged gross misconduct. This notice has to be signed by at least one-third of the lawmakers in the house. In the case of Rivers State, this amounts to 11 lawmakers.

Gross misconduct, according to the constitution, is defined as a grave violation of the constitution. Without establishing this, lawmakers cannot begin an impeachment process.

The constitution mandates the speaker to serve the governor and each house member with a copy of the notice of allegation within seven days. The governor, however, has a right to reply.

This means that he can either reply or ignore the notice. If he indeed replies, the reply must also be served to each member of the House of Assembly.

Within 14 days of receiving the misconduct notice, the state House of Assembly in Rivers must gather to decide whether to dismiss the notice or pursue an investigation. At least two-thirds of the house must pass the motion to investigate for it to stand. This means at least 21 Rivers lawmakers have to support the impeachment motion before it can be effective. If the majority dismisses the notice, then the impeachment is null.

However, if the majority passes the motion, the speaker has a week to request the chief judge of the state to set up a panel for further investigation.

Since 1999, only six governors in Nigeria have been impeached. Before then, Balarabe Musa of Kaduna State was impeached in 1981 by a majority of members of the state’s House of assembly.