A bill seeking to amend the Nigerian Constitution to establish a single six-year term for the president and state governors has been rejected by the House of Representatives.
The bill, introduced by Honourable Ikenga Ugochinyere, proposed that the office of president, state governors, and local government chairmen be rotated among Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. It also aimed to consolidate elections by holding them on a single day across the country.
When the bill, which was set for a second reading, was put to a vote, the majority of lawmakers voted against it.
This is not the first time such a proposal has been dismissed. In 2019, a similar bill sponsored by John Dyegh, a representative from Benue State, also failed to pass the second reading.
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Dyegh’s version of the bill included a provision for a six-year term for members of the National Assembly and state legislatures, arguing that it would allow lawmakers more time to gain experience and reduce the costs and violence associated with re-election campaigns.
He believed a single term of six years would curb the irregularities that often accompany re-election efforts.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also supported a constitutional amendment to implement a six-year single term for the president, specifically rotating it across the six geopolitical zones.
He proposed additional reforms, including mandating electronic voting, requiring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to verify candidates’ credentials, and revising the Electoral Act of 2022.
Earlier this year, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, also expressed support for a single-term proposal for elected officials, joining other political leaders calling for reforms to Nigeria’s electoral system.
“Sometimes, these conversations about single term might begin to make some sense so that you fix it, whether you say four years or five years, six years, seven years, single term,” Soludo said.
“So, you are not thinking about the next election once you finish getting into this. I face that all day in my state. You want to get into this (project), they say, ‘No, wait, you know you have an election’. And I say, ‘No, let’s get it, if we get there, we get there and if we lose, we lose.”
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