Reps reject bill seeking single six-year term, zonal rotation for president, governors
By Emma Ogbuehi
The House of Representatives on Thursday, November 21, rejected a proposed constitution amendment aimed at instituting a single six-year term for the president, governors, and local government chairmen across the federation.
The bill, sponsored by Ikenga Ugochinyere (PDP, Imo) and 33 co-sponsors, also sought to divide the country into six geopolitical zones and establish a rotational system for the presidency and governorship within these zones.
Additionally, it proposed that all elections be conducted on a single day.
It sought to amend the provision of section 132 of the Constitution t by inserting a new subsection (2) deleting the extant subsection (4) and renumbering the entire section accordingly to provide that an election to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be rotated between the North and the South regions of the country every six years.
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It also sought to amend Section 180 of the Principal Act by substituting “four years with “six years”.
In addition, it sought to alter Section 76 by inserting a new subsection (3) as follows; (3) For the Purpose of Section (1) of this section, all elections into the offices of President, Governors, National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly shall hold simultaneously on the same date to be determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission in consultation with the National Assembly and in accordance with the Electoral Act.
When the bill which was scheduled for second reading was put to vote, majority of the lawmakers voted against it. This is not the first time the House will reject a bill seeking six-year single term for president and governors.
In 2019, the bill which was then sponsored by John Dyegh from Benue State, also failed to progress to the second reading.
Dyegh’s bill had also considered a six-year term for Members of the National Assembly and States Houses of Assembly.
He argued that the bill was necessary to for members of the National Assembly to gain more experience in six years years instead of four.
According to him, re-election for the President and governors cost three times more than the first election and is characterised by violence. He believes a single term of five years will curb the irregularities associated with re-election.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had also proposed a further amendment of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022 to accommodate a six-year single term for a President for each of the six geopolitical zone.
He added that the law must mandate electronic voting and collation of results, compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to verify the credentials of candidates, amongst others.
The governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, also in June this years, backed the calls for single term for elected politicians.