FORMER DEP. GOV SUNDAY ONYEBUCHI: THE MORNING AFTER THE IMPEACHMENT In the last two weeks or so, many of our forum members had expected me to raise the issue of the impeachment that was then hanging on the head of Sunday Onyebuchi, the former deputy of governor of Enugu Sate like the Sword of Damocles. In one of my allegorical reactions, I had tried to say something about the two office rules. It will also be necessary to restate here again, the ONLY two office unwritten rules, that I know of. Readers would do better to review the Enugu development in that (proper) perspective: Rule 1: The BOSS is ALWAYS RIGHT. Rule 2: If the BOSS is NOT RIGHT, REFER to RULE 1. Those who are familiar with computer programming will understand that the above flow is how computers executive instructions by testing laid down conditions. If there is anybody or anything to be blamed on the fate of Onyebuchi, I think it should be the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that did not only create the deputy governor as a spare tyre which can only be used when a main tyre gets punctured but also like an employee that only the governor can hire (and equally can fire). That constitution states in section 187 (1) that the candidate for the office of Governor of a State shall not be deemed to have been validly nominated for such office unless HE NOMINATES ANOTHER CANDIDATE AS HIS ASSOCIATE for his running for the office of Governor, who is to occupy the office of Deputy Governor; and that candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of Deputy Governor if the candidate who nominated him is duly elected as Governor in accordance with the said provisions (emphasis mine). It goes without saying that the deputy governor comes at the mercy of the governor; not even the electorates or anybody. I liken this position to a dress code for an occasion. The governor is free to wear any colour of blazer for an occasion requiring only blazers or any clothing style for an occasion requiring only whites. So, if the deputy governor comes at the instance of the governor only, then the governor is his BOSS and the office rules apply. 100%. Any subordinate who takes up issues with his boss in public, for any reason at all, is like a mad dog that bites its owner. It must die (apologies to MKO). Many people say what they say because they probably have never worked in a public or private office environment and hardly know what insubordination is and the weight it carries. Even Sunday Onyebuchi probably havent worked anywhere before his appointment and may not have also known the consequences. The best a boss can do to help ease out a recalcitrant subordinate peacefully is to ask him to resign. And this was what the governor did but the chap was ill advised to pursue a matter that all reasonable people know that he would loose, head or tail. No deputy governor, no matter how powerful, from Senator Iyiola Omisore to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe stared directly with the boss survived. This is because the boss knows that only him can hire his deputy and by the reason of that can also fire him. This has nothing to do with gross misconduct which many only see as corruption related. (I think that the framers of the constitution were trying to avoid having two captains in one ship when they made that seat redundant as long as the governor lived and not incapacitated). It was pure impudence boldness to refuse to take orders duly communicated through protocol. It either he saw himself as ALMOST equal to the governor or that he underrated the powers of the governor or that he was plainly naive. If Sunday Onyebuchi had resigned as advised by his boss who chose him in the first instance among many capable people as an associate to run with, he would have saved himself the trouble of having to be impeached. Now, in the morning after, he and he alone, is licking his wounds. If I were him, I would do everything to cut my losses by not going to test the process in the law courts. It can only bring him more pains and possibly more losses.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 10:03:51 +0000
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