In the midst of Nigeria’s ongoing constitutional review process, the Senate has clarified its position on two highly debated issues; the proposal for a six-year single term for the President and the reintroduction of regionalism.
Last Monday, 35 members of the House of Representatives, brought up a bill seeking a single term of six years for the President and state governors.
The bill also calls for the rotation of the presidency among the six geopolitical zones of the country.
The 35 legislators, under the auspices of Reformed-minded Legislators, said the proposition would lead to a reduction in the cost of governance.
Addressing a press conference at the National Assembly Complex, the spokesman for the group, Ikenga Ugochinyere, added that the move would unite the country and ensure a seamless transition and unprecedented development for the country.
Ugochinyere said, “On governance, we are proposing a constitutional alteration to provide for the rotation of executive powers among the six geopolitical zones to ensure equal representation and reduce the desperation and tempo of agitation for the creation of states.
“We are proposing to amend Section 3 of the constitution to provide for the recognition of the division of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones.”
The proposed legislation authored by a chieftain of the Yoruba socio-cultural association, Afenifere, Akin Fapohunda, and titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to substitute the annexure to Decree 24 of 1999 with New Governance Model for the Federal Republic of Nigeria’, seeks among others, new extant laws to be cited as ‘The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria New Governance Model for Nigeria Act 2024’.
Fapohunda said that the bill would be transmitted to the President on Friday (yesterday).
Fapohunda said, “I’m submitting my letter (draft bill) today but I will wait for seven days before releasing it to the public.
Responding to the proposed legislation, the Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, said the Red Chamber was a neutral entity on the issue, emphasising its commitment to aggregating the diverse opinions of Nigerians.
The Senate spokesperson reiterated, “The Senate has no opinion on the issue. The Senate is just a centre to aggregate the opinions of Nigerians. So, when people come from towns, villages, hamlets, metropolitan, cosmopolitan regions, and states, and they say, ‘this is what they want’, we aggregate it and that is usually the direction the Senate will go.
‘So, on the issue of the six years, single-term tenure for the executive, the Senate has no opinion about it. The Senate is just a center to aggregate the opinions of Nigerians. So that’s the way it is.”
