Opposition party, Nigerians react to tenure enlongation proposal

Opposition party, Nigerians react to tenure elongation proposal
Qasim Akinreti, Lagos and Uche Aneke, Abuja

The proposed tenure elongation bill, which President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria said he would forward to the National Assembly, has elicited several reactions.

Some pointed out that it is a “danger signal to dictatorial rule”, while others express skepticism on the motive despite assurances from President Jonathan that he would not benefit from the proposed elongation.

Jonathan had on Tuesday said he would forward a bill aimed at limiting the tenure for the President and the Governors in Nigeria to a period of six years to help consolidate democracy and allow elected executives to concentrate on governance and service delivery during their full term.

The criticisms were based on the botched attempt by  former President Olusegun Obasanjo to include tenure elongation in the constitutional amendment in his last days in office.

The spokesman for the leading opposition party in Nigeria, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Lai Mohammed and a constitutional lawyer, Professor Itsey Sagay have condemned the timing of the proposal.

They argued that the most pressing constitutional amendment for now was fiscal federalism and not tenure elongation.

They pointed out that the states were currently complaining about the revenue allocation formula that affects the current minimum wage payment, which they said had been ignored.

The ACN was quite specific in its condemnation, saying that the proposal is diversionary.

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola had urged the National Assembly not to focus on tenure amendment, pointing out that there were other areas that should be focused on in terms of constitutional amendment.

He explained that issues bordering on employment, good healthcare, good education and youth empowerment should be the focus.

President Jonathan's advisers have long talked of such a proposal, arguing a single term for a longer period better suits Nigeria.

Some other Nigerians interviewed in Lagos also agreed that what they need now is food on their tables and not tenure elongation.

Tenure elongation proposal

In an official statement made available to reporters, Jonathan pledged that he would not benefit from the law if passed.

President Jonathan said his commitment to a single term for the President and Governors was borne out of patriotic zeal, after a painstaking study and belief that the constitutionally guaranteed two terms for Presidents and Governors was not helping the focus of governance and institutionalization of democracy at this stage of the country's development.

He noted the acrimony which the issue of re-election, every four years, generates both at the Federal and State levels and believed that the development was no longer healthy and had further undermined the country's developmental aspiration. 

According to him, the proposed amendment bill would help leaders to be more focused instead of running governments with re-election as their primary focus.

The proposed Bill

The current laws allow a President to serve two four-year terms.

The proposed Bill will require governors of Nigeria’s 36 States to also serve only one term.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said: "The tenure of members of the national and state assemblies will also be a little more than four years, although lawmakers will still be eligible for re-election as their constituencies may determine."

Jonathan, who had reportedly pledged to serve only one term of office, said such a law would not benefit him.  Details on the proposal remained unclear, including the timeframe for a single term.

The statement stressed that the nation was still smarting from the unrest, the desperation for power and the overheating of the polity that had attended each general election.

Jonathan first came to power in May 2010 following the death of his predecessor, Umaru Yar'Adua, before winning elections in April 2011.

He reportedly pledged in private to serve only one term in office as part of negotiations with northern politicians from his own party opposed to his candidacy.

Williams