Six-year single term bill may resurface
Pledge by Buhari to quit in 2023 unnecessary – Lawmaker
BY ROTIMI DUROJAIYE
For the umpteenth time, President Muhammadu Buhari repeated his pledge again on Friday to stand down when his second term expires in 2023.
“I swore by the Holy Qur’an that I will serve in accordance with the constitution and leave when my time is up. No “Tazarce’’ (tenure extension). I don’t want anybody to start talking about and campaigning for unconstitutional extension. I will not accept that.”
His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the President made the declaration at a meeting in Makkah with a select group of Nigerians resident in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he just ended a visit.
Shehu added that President Buhari also tacitly expressed support for efforts being made to increase the role of technology in the nation’s elections, arguing that the introduction of the card reader and electronic register was God’s answer to his prayers, having been cheated of his victory in three previous elections.
President Buhari, who ended his visit to the Kingdom with the Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, said he would continue to abide by the constitution in all its ramifications and would at all times supervise and deal with his ministers on same basis.
He gave assurances at the meeting that in the balance of “eighteen months or so of my time left, whatever I can do to improve the life of Nigerians, I will do it for the country.”
One of the high points of President Buhari’s New Year 2020 message was his pledge to “stand down” when his second term expires in 2023.
Curiously, Friday’s promise, which was made for the fourth time since Buhari was declared the winner of the 2019 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, has not been enough to lay the speculation of a third term agenda to rest.
The Point gathered at the weekend that the House of Representatives might reopen the bill seeking amendment to the constitution to make the President and governors serve for a single term of six years.
The bill also proposed that members of the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly would serve six years per tenure.
The House had on December 17, 2019, voted against the proposal.
The sponsor of the bill was John Dyegh, (APC-Gboko/Tarka Federal constituency of Benue State).
The bill, which was considered for second reading, was stood down by the lawmakers who overwhelmingly opposed the legislation.
It was titled, ‘A bill for an act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for a single term of six years for the President and governors and a six-year term for members of the National Assembly and states Houses of Assembly.’
Dyegh had lamented that several members of the House misunderstood the bill for an attempt to elongate the tenure of President Buhari, who is currently serving a second term of four years, or extend the duration.
He disclosed then that wider consultations were already ongoing, details of which he refused to disclose.
The lawmaker explained that the proposal was to ensure better governance by presidents and governors, cut costs of conducting elections and reduce the loss of lives and property during electioneering and polls.
Dyegh said, “A lot of members understood it to be a third tenure for Buhari, some others understood it for an extension of tenure for Buhari or an additional two years to the four. If you were in the chamber that day, you would have even heard some members making comments towards that direction. Did you know that it was the kind of campaign going on behind me? It is quite unfortunate.
“Groups and individuals have come up with all manner of reasons why Buhari should remain president, beyond the constitutionally stipulated period, which has raised posers as to the intention of the campaigners, and Buhari supporters
“
“The bill is not dead. Yes, it did not scale through the second reading but it is not dead. The good part is that it can be resurrected. I am still consulting. I still believe very strongly that it is the way forward for this country, we can only pretend (about it).’’
Though, it was widely alleged then that the Presidency was behind the six-year single term bill, this was denied by the government.
While absolving Buhari of any involvement in the bill, the Presidency claimed that he was not interested in a third term in office.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Babajide Omoworare, said Buhari’s speeches and actions so far did not portray him as someone who was interested in a third term, much less use the legislature to initiate the process for him.
He explained that Buhari had repeatedly warned people against either using his name to canvass votes or expecting him to back anyone as his candidate for an elective office in 2023.
Omoworare explained, “To the best of my knowledge, the President has said a number of times that he is not interested in a third term. He said so a few months ago during the National Executive Council meeting at the APC Secretariat. He said it candidly and vividly that he was not interested. I have not seen anything in his attitude to the contrary.”
Omoworare described as “wild speculation” any mention of the President’s name or his intentions in connection with the six-year single term bill.
“I doubt if the President will now use a member of the House of Representatives or the House as a whole to sponsor a bill to ask for a single term of six years that he will be the first beneficiary,” he stated.
The current four-year term, which is renewable for a second term and total of eight years, has been in practice since the Second Republic in 1979 and retained in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Previous attempts to amend it by the 7th and the 8th National Assembly, failed in 2013 and 2016 respectively.
The 2014 National Conference also recommended a Modified Presidential System that would have both presidential and parliamentary characteristics.
Credible sources in the National Assembly told The Point that the bill was not dead “and would soon be resurrected.”
A source said, “When Baba (former President Olusegun Obasanjo), was re-elected in 2003, he reassured his party chiefs that he would not contest elections again. That did not stop him and his supporters from attempting to amend the 1999 Constitution to accommodate tenure extension for presidents and governors.
“That attempt was aborted at the Senate following the massive rejection of it by the people. Till date, Obasanjo continues to deny making any such attempt.”
Political observers are worried that the weakening of vital pillars of democracy, the legislature and the judiciary, and the constriction of democratic space in the last four years are preparations for an easier passage to a tenure elongation.
Worthy of particular mention were the manner of removal of former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, and his replacement by Tanko Mohammed; and also the enthronement of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as President of the Senate and Speaker, House of Representatives, respectively.
They have already pledged to grant “any request” from him (Buhari).
Like some other presidents, and heads of state before him, President Buhari is being urged by some Nigerians to continue in power, in utter disregard to what the constitution says.
Groups and individuals have come up with all manner of reasons why Buhari should remain president, beyond the constitutionally stipulated period, which has raised posers as to the intention of the campaigners, and Buhari supporters.
THIRD TERM, A PLOT IN THE MAKING?
Going by the modus operandi of Nigerian politicians, many are worried that the third term bid may be a plot in the making, while others feel it will fizzle out soon.
Although the President himself had stated that he would not make the mistake of attempting a third term in office, his supporters are moving to ensure that he gets another term.
One of such people, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Charles Enya, has recently gone to court to seek the amendment of the constitution to enable President Buhari run for a third term in office.
Enya, a member of the governing APC from Ebonyi State, filed the suit (FHC/AI/CS/90/19) before a Federal High Court in Abakiliki.
The APC chieftain, who was the organising secretary to Buhari during the 2019 general election, also wants governors to be allowed to run for third term.
He is praying the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and the National Assembly to remove constitutional clauses hindering elected presidents and state governors from seeking a third term in office.
Defendants in the suit are Malami, the clerk of the National Assembly and the National Assembly.
“A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections,” says Section 137 (1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
In section 182 (1)(b), the constitution also states that “no person shall be qualified for election to the office of governor of a state if he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections.”
However, the APC chieftain argued in his suit, “That section 137(1)(b) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 (as amended) restricting the President to only two terms of four years each, is inoperative by virtue of its discriminatory nature in relation to the executive and legislative branches of government in Nigeria, and therefore null and void and thus inapplicable.”
He, therefore, wants an “order of the court nullifying and setting aside section 137(1)(b) and 182(1) (b) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and directing the first and second defendants to delete and expunge sections 137(1)(b) and 182(1)(b) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (as amended).”
There are feelers that the exercise Enya has embarked upon is not new among certain Nigerian politicians.
Opinions are that those who led similar exercise in the past were more willing to offer their services to the benefit of their paymasters strictly for the pecuniary benefits therein.
The point recalls the one million-man march for late military head of state, Sanni Abacha, to transform from a military head of state and become a democratically elected life president, led by Daniel Kanu, Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha and the Association for Better Nigeria, led by maverick politician, Arthur Nzeribe.
Nzeribe’s ABN, in an attempt to perpetuate the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida in power, went to court to prevent the holding of the June 1993 presidential election.
Their only reason for demanding an injunction from the court was that leaders of the two political parties – National Republican Convention and Social Democratic Party, were corrupt politicians.
Late Justice Bassey Ikpeme of the Abuja High Court had in the midnight sat and granted an order in line with the request of the ABN.
ABN was known to be pro-Babangida. Despite that order, the elections went on. However, after the election, ABN returned to court to prevent the release of the election results and this provided alibi and fillip for the Babangida government to annul the election.
When the election was annulled and late Sanni Abacha came on stream, Nzeribe’s ABN went underground, probably because the mission had been realised.
As the 2023 general elections draw nearer, some support groups have been mobilising, especially in the North, where a campaign has been launched to ensure that the presidency remains in the region after 2023.
A newly-formed National Interest Forum has insisted that merit, rather than resort to parochial sentiments, should be the yardstick to elect whoever will succeed President Buhari in the 2023 poll.
The forum, made up of professional bodies, artisans, trade unions, students, farmers and religious bodies across the country, argued that it behoves Nigerians to elect a competent leader with the wherewithal to address the multi-faceted challenges in the country.
NIF National Chairman, Gambo Lawan, said at the launch of the nationwide town hall meeting in Abuja that agitations by secessionists groups, unemployment and insecurity were challenges that should bother well-meaning Nigerians.
“In spite of Buhari’s serial pledges, Nigerians have every justification to be worried, vigilant and ready to keep him and his supporters to two terms only.
“The President may have neutralised the institutions of checks and balances in our democracy. But he cannot neutralise Nigerians if they demonstrate iron-clad determination, as they did several times in the past, to enforce the 1999 Constitution as it is,” another source warned.
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on Tuesday, last week, said neither President Buhari nor his party, the APC, could solve the problems facing the country.
The group said it had lost hope in Buhari solving the country’s problems, saying the exit of the President in 2023 would end the problems facing the country.
The group’s acting leader, Ayo Adebanjo, said this while addressing journalists after the group’s monthly meeting held in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
The octogenarian accused the President of having a vested interest in the activities of herdsmen who he said, should have been declared terrorists.
Adebanjo insisted that the group might not be part of the coming election if the country was not restructured before 2023 election.
The Yoruba leader suggested a national government as part of the measures to solve the problems of the country.
“The solution to the problem is for the man (Buhari) to leave the place.
“The APC has no solution to our problem. What we are talking about is to form a national government to implement restructuring,” he said.
“All areas of conflicts are embedded in restructuring the country,” Adebanjo added.
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said recently that INEC could not extend the tenure of President Buhari beyond the statutory 2023 even if elections did not hold in the South East region.
Adegboruwa said that the warnings issued by INEC to arsonists burning its offices in the South East should not translate into threats that the current government’s tenure could be extended if elections failed to hold in the South East.
In a release, the human rights lawyer added that the situation in the North East was worse in 2015 when the country held elections that brought in Buhari.
He said, “We are a nation governed by law and the most important one is the constitution. The tenure of the current President cannot be extended by one second; whether Nigeria burns or rain or brimstones fall from heaven. As long as we are still operating this constitution, the tenure of this president is predictable, it’s determined, it’s statutory; nobody has any power to extend it.
“Even if election does not hold, that will not lead to the extension of the tenure of the current President. The constitution is clear about what happens if election does not hold. Having said that, there is no reason why election should not hold in Nigeria. The situation we have in the South East now is not as bad as what we had in the North East in 2015 and elections held successfully then. So, it is possible to isolate particular zones and areas where there may be violence for election to hold in other areas where there is peace and when there is a return of peace, we can always go back to conduct elections in those places.
“The time lag for transition is so elongated in the constitution that nobody can use that (South East situation) to birth a third-term agenda for the current President. It will not work. Let INEC not sell that dummy to anybody. Whether there are fifth columnists within this regime that are being paid to go and orchestrate violence in the South East by burning INEC offices and whether even INEC headquarters in Abuja is burnt down, this current regime will expire in 2023!
“No Jupiter can extend that tenure! So, if anybody is doing that for the purpose of getting any illegal extension, they should better have a rethink because Nigerians will not accept it. We will not accept an extension of the tenure of this regime, we will not accept a military rule; we will not accept anything that will elongate this wickedness, suffering and violence! And it is not a new thing for us to demand that the tenure of this regime should end; if the President will not reward us with good governance, at least he can reward us with integrity by sticking to the oath that he took on the 29th of May 2019 when he was sworn in for second term.”
Adegboruwa added that there was no provision for being sworn in for third term, either by extension or failure to conduct election.
“So, for me, Nigerians are ready; we are not blind people and we are not daft. Whatever is going on in the South East, in terms of INEC offices, all these press conferences that the INEC Chairman is holding and sending warnings, he is only warning himself; it doesn’t concern us as Nigerians. Whatever happens, this particular Muhammadu Buhari regime will come to an end in 2023. That idea (tenure extension) cannot hold water, nobody should sell it, nobody should dream about it, we will not accept it as a nation,” he added.
Another legal practitioner who does not want his name in print told The Point, “The President is actually meant to leave office at 23.59am on May 28, 2023. That is when the tenure actually ends. But by the doctrine of convenience, the formal handing over ceremony occurs the following day on May 29.”
The six-year single tenure proposal is not new to Nigeria.
In 2014, former president Goodluck Jonathan proposed the six-year single term for president and governors, saying it would ensure good governance.
Jonathan’s proposal was then taken with a pinch-of-salt by political leaders across the country.
But seven years later, it appears that the logjam, which has characterised the nation’s electoral system, has brought the proposal to the fore and made it appealing.
A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who supported the bill, had expressed displeasure over its rejection by the lawmakers.
Atiku said by rejecting the bill, the lawmakers missed an opportunity to positively affect a change in our democratic order, while regretting that eight-year term of office rewards incompetence because even incumbents that have failed would use their access to public funds to return to power by fair or foul means.
He argued that the desperation for second term was not necessarily driven by patriotism or the passion for service, but by the obsession with the greed for power for its own sake.
He said, “In view of the challenges facing our current democratic order, especially the culture of rigging that subverts the will of the people, the six-year single term would have ended such untoward practices in our electoral process.
“The desperation for the second term by the incumbents is the main reason why they go for broke and set the rule book on fire, thereby making free and fair elections impossible by legitimising rigging at the expense of their challengers that have no access to public funds.
“A situation where the incumbents deploy more public resources to their second term projects than using the funds for people’s welfare encourages massive rigging that undermines electoral integrity.
“Six-year single term would remove such desperation and enable the incumbents to concentrate on the job for which they were elected in the first place.”
Atiku added, “Second term obsession rewards incompetence by allowing failed incumbents to be re-elected regardless of their performance record. It also denies political parties the opportunity to replace failed incumbents with better candidates within the parties in the name of right of first refusal.”
It is commonly agreed that rather than concentrate effort on fulfilling their campaign promises to the electorate and providing purposeful leadership, most of the state governors and even presidents often divert public funds and concentrate their efforts on seeking re-election for a second term after the first two years in office.
Political observers are of the opinion that the two terms of four years have been a curse rather than a blessing to Nigeria since 1999, and needs an urgent review in view of prevailing events that have characterised elections in Nigeria.
Pundits are of the opinion that perhaps, the introduction of six-year single term may, however, help in checking ballot-box snatching, voter inducement, violence, and manipulations that have plagued recent elections and the 2019 general election in Nigeria.
When The Point asked Shehu if President Buhari would be willing to be a beneficiary of a six-year single term, he said, “Please send me the facts, including documents to the effect of what you are alleging from to obtain the reaction you want.”
Spokesman for the Senate, Ajibola Bashiru, declined comments.
