• Govs Lobby Against Council Autonomy
• Presidency, North Oppose Single Term
AS Nigerians await the resumption of members of the National Assembly in two week's time to start debate on the items listed for amendment in the 1999 Constitution as amended, The Guardian learnt Friday from a Senator from the Southeast zone, that pressure is being mounted on his colleagues in both Chambers not support local council autonomy and six- year single tenure for the President and governors which is expected to take effect from 2015, if passed into law.
The Senator who was also a member of Constitution Review Committee (CRC) of the National Assembly, disclosed that the pressure was coming from the state governors who don't want autonomy for council areas and scrapping of the State Electoral Commission.
Also pressuring and lobbying the National Assembly members are leaders of the major opposition parties.
The senator said some of the itemized issues for debate on resumption such as autonomy of council areas, six-year single tenure were the bone of contention at the Committee meetings.
"While some senators that appear to be nursing ambition for governorship in 2015 do not want autonomy of council area, just as being opposed by incumbent governors, some of the senators, especially from the North, are in support of single tenure of six- years to take effect in 2015.
"The pressure started to mount at the Committee level, but most members of (CRC) resisted it, insisting that there is need for an open debate on the floor of both chambers of National Assembly for Nigerians to witness and know who to hold responsible," the senator disclosed.
He revealed that the state governors are already in touch with the National Assembly on their areas of interest.
"Yes, depending on where their interests lie; most of the interested parties which include the state governors, opposition party leaders, civil society organisations and President Jonathan's foot soldiers, have reached out to the leadership of the National Assembly ahead of our resumption to commence debate on the issues".
It was also disclosed that the state governors are banking on the support of the members of their various state houses of Assembly to get whatever they cannot get from the National Assembly members on the amendment issues as the constitution requires that for any amendment to be passed into law, it requires the consent of 24 Houses of Assembly, out of the 36 in the country.
On why the idea of creation of more states was dropped by the CRC, the senator said the issue created deep rancour and heated argument among the members of the committee, to the extent that some members from a section of the country walked out of the committee meetings severally in protest, before the majority of members agreed to drop the item for peace.
The senator expressed concern that debate on the items for amendment might be rancorous and divisive if not well handled, considering the already tense political atmosphere ahead of the 2015 general election.
Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday criticized the Senate recommendations on constitution amendment which proposed a six-year tenure for the President and governors, saying it may worsen the problem of effective leadership for the country.
The Arewa elders after studying the proposed recommendations of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendment, said that despite the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan and all serving governors may not enjoy the six-year tenure proposal, the committee's position on it could be counter-productive in serving Nigeria's interest for good governance and providing democratic dividends for the teeming population.
ACF's National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani who reacted to the Senate's recommendations, said yesterday: "ACF's position on single tenure for president and governors is that it is counter-productive, precisely because it has no incentives
to motivate for excellence.
"This is because the good, the not-so-good and the feckless are grouped together without any exception. All management of human affairs which have no incentives by way of reward that motivate for excellent performance, cannot reasonably be expected to be effective".
He added: "In multiple tenure, re-elections are often a form of reward for good performance. And if president and governors know that they are all entitled to six years whether they perform or not, they will not perform but will concentrate on pillage of the public treasury, which is counter-productive. And that is why most countries of the world, including Russia and China, have multiple and not single tenure. And if abuse of incumbency is the problem, Nigeria can consider those models which allow multiple tenure that are not consecutive.
"Chile is a good case in point where no president is allowed to conduct an election in which he is a candidate. But he can still re
contest under the watch of a different president. Bangladesh has a caretaker government arrangement that conducts elections.
"In any case, the idea of allowing problems that come with democracy to make us fear democratic practices like internal democracy and primaries, is not helpful".
The Guardian