Pages: (115-162 )
Abstract
The spate of impeachment in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic is unprecedented in the history of the nation. In both developed and developing democracies where presidential and federal system of government are in vogue such as in the United States of America, Argentina, Indonesia, Sudan, Brazil and Venezuela, the impeachment clause is rarely invoked at both the state and federal levels. However when applied, the object is to safeguard, deepen and strengthen the democratic process. In Nigeria, intrigues and anomalies have often accompanied the impeachment process. Therefore, the broad objective of this study is to unravel underlying interests, forces, causes, motives for and the frequency of both successful and unsuccessful impeachments in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999-2018) beyond infractions of the law. In particular, it aims to identify the actors and their roles in the process of impeachment; find out why the laid down procedures were not followed in some of the impeachment proceedings; identify issues and challenges arising from the causes and motives for impeachment; assess democratic stability in Nigeria; and recommend measures on how to minimize the rate of impeachment of public officers in the interest of democratic stability.
Keywords: Gross Misconduct, Impeachment, Nigeria's Fourth Republic,