The House of Representatives has rejected a Constitution alteration Bill proposing a 6-year tenure for the Office of President, Governor and lawmakers at the National Assembly and at the State Houses of Assembly.
The Bill which was sponsored by Hon. John Dyegh (APC, Benue) failed to scale through second reading after lawmakers criticised its imbalance with global best practices at its debate on 17th December, 2019. Amendments in the Bill had contained proposals for a single tenure of 6 years for the Office of the President and Governor rather than the current possibility of two terms of 4 years each. However, the Bill did not include term limits for lawmakers at Federal and State levels, despite proposing an extension from their four- year term to six years.
This is not the first time that Constitution amendments have sought to propose term limits for elective offices such as that of the President. In 2006 for instance, the 5th Senate popularly voted against a Constitution alteration Bill that sought to increase the term of Office of the President from a maximum of two to three terms. The present case, however, distinguishes itself by providing for a single term with increased years.
The National Assembly has also received other Constitution alteration Bills in the House of Representatives, including Bills to increase the minimum educational qualification to contest for office of President, from school certificate to Higher National Diploma or First degree. Another Bill also seeks to restrict persons above the age of 70 years for contesting for President. These Bills have only just passed first reading.