ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNANCE THROUGH IMPEACHMENT IN NIGERIA: LESSONS FROM SOUTH KOREA

Abstract

Accountability in governance is very paramount to the growth and development of a given society. Where the government is not held accountable by the people the dividends of democracy will erode the people and this will in turn have negative implications in the society’s economic growth. One of the ways of ensuring accountability in governance is through the process commonly known as impeachment. This article made enquiries into how impeachment has been used by the legislators in Nigeria to ensure that there is accountability in governance by the executive. The article also highlighted impeachment in South Korea to find if there is any lesson Nigeria can learn from there. The research methodology employed is doctrinal and the sources of data used are primary sources of data which are the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended); Constitution of South Korea; relevant statutes and case laws, while secondary sources of data used were textbooks from learned scholars, journal articles and internet materials. The research found that legislators in Nigeria have not used the power of impeachment in order to ensure accountability in governance, the research also found that South Korean legislators have risen up to the occasion to use impeachment to check the excesses in government and to ensure accountability. The research recommended that Nigerian legislators both at the federal and state levels should endeavour to use impeachment in appropriate cases, by following the procedure laid down in the Constitution to hold erring executives accountable; it was further recommended that the Constitution should be amended to empower the people to compel the legislators to initiate impeachment proceedings against an elected executive when they have reasons to believe the elected executive has committed gross violation of the Constitution or committed acts that amounted to gross misconduct.