The House of Representatives said on Friday that its members would stand by the decision of their constituencies while voting on the proposal for a single tenure of six years for the President and state governors in the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution.
Already, the collated report of the People’s Public Sessions conducted by the House indicates that Nigerians prefer the retention of the current two terms of four years each for political office holders to a single tenure.
The position of the House is not in tandem with that of the Senate that is pushing for a single six-year term.
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, told SUNDAY PUNCH that lawmakers would be guided by the positions of their constituents.
According to him, the idea of the people’s public sessions was to take the amendment of the constitution to the “doorsteps of Nigerians so that they could take control of the process and decide what they would want to be included in the constitution.”
Mohammed said the results of the sessions would be drafted as bills to be passed by the House in line with the guidelines on passing bills.
He spoke further, “For the House, our work has been simplified; Nigerians have spoken. It means, therefore, that members will vote on the items to be included in the constitution according to the voting pattern of their constituencies.”
The Chairman of the Media Sub-Committee, Mr. Ezuiche Ubani, also explained that lawmakers would not vote differently from the positions already taken on any issue by their constituencies.
“Your people will be watching you and they will be interested in knowing how you voted. It is expected of every member to vote according to the decision of his or her constituency. That is the next stage,” Ubani added.
During the public presentation of the report, both the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, and the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, gave the assurance that members would be guided by the decisions of their constituencies when voting on the constitution.
Reacting to the six-year single term proposal, the Ijaw Republican Assembly in the South-South said it should be applied in 2019, after President Goodluck Jonathan might have served his second term in office.
The spokesperson of the group, Mrs. Annkio Briggs, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the only way Ijaw people could support the single tenure agenda in 2015 was if Jonathan would benefit from it.
She said, “Whatever they mean by single term of six years, it should not affect Jonathan’s tenure. It cannot start in 2015. It has to start in 2019 after Jonathan’s second term. But if they insist that it must start in 2015, then Jonathan, instead of leaving office in 2019, will leave office in 2021.
“If it starts in 2015, that means Jonathan will have to do six years instead of four years. If that is the way they want it, they should hurry up, it is good.”
Briggs stated that nobody could stop Jonathan from contesting the 2015 presidential election, whether or not the six-year single term plan was adopted. “They cannot make a law and bend it when it comes to Jonathan,” she added.
Meanwhile, the apex Igbo socio-cultural body in the South-East, Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo, backed the six-year single term system. It said it would ensure equality and fairness among the six geopolitical zones in the country.
The body, which said it also supported a zoning formula, said the single tenure arrangement would put an end to the marginalisation of the region in the administration of the country.
The National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Mr. Osita Oganah, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday, said since the incumbent President and state governors would not benefit from the proposed arrangement; it would afford marginalised regions, particularly the South-East, an opportunity to step in.
He faulted the position of the apex northern socio-cultural body, Arewa Consultative Forum, which said the single tenure system was counter-productive and would raise corruption level. He argued that the system would only encourage competition among leaders from each region, as witnessed when Nigeria had regional system of government.
Oganah said, “To ensure equity and justice, Nigeria should rotate power along the six geopolitical zones. Ohanaeze believes that the six zones are equal; we have equal rights and duties, irrespective of population, land mass and derivation.
“It is therefore logical that a single tenure of five or six years would allow stability. Then, power can go round all the zones in Nigeria within 36 years. Once that is done and every part of Nigeria has tasted power, we can then begin to do it by merit. But for the first 36 years, every part of Nigeria, especially the Igbo, has to be assured that it has a stake in this country.”
Similarly, a group, the Federation of Middle-Belt People, said the single tenure system would add value to Nigeria’s democracy. It said the two-term system was most applicable in advanced democracies.
Plateau State Coordinator of the group, Mr. Manasseh Watyil, said, “Six-year single tenure is very good because it will reduce corruption, promote development, reduce idleness in governance and make it participatory. Dividends of democracy will be felt and it will kill godfatherism. There will be very careful selection of candidates and there will be no monopoly of leadership.
“All these will take place because of fear of impeachment. Two-term tenure is only good for developed countries, not developing ones, because our people look at leadership as a birthright. All parts of the country will have a sense of belonging. There will be fair share of national cake. We are duly in support of it.”
Last Monday, the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution had recommended non-renewable single six-year tenure for the office of President, Vice-President, governors and their deputies.
The Senate panel’s recommendation also disqualifies Jonathan and incumbent governors from benefitting from the new arrangement if the recommendation becomes law.
The Presidency, in its reaction, said Jonathan, who is an Ijaw, was ready to forget his ambition to run for second term in 2015 if the Senate passed its proposal for single non-renewable six-year tenure into law.
President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, said the ambition to stage a return would be shelved, if senators voted for a single term for the President and state governors.