Date Published: 07/27/11

Lagos ACN Condemns Proposed Six Year Tenure Bill

The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has condemned the bill introduced by President Goodluck Jonathan, seeking a six years single tenure for the President and state governors. The party says the bill is a needless distraction that will unnecessarily heat up a restive polity in the same manner the third term bogey did and urged the National Assembly to throw out the bill as it negates the prevailing public sentiment and is detrimental to democracy, as it will divide and pit Nigerians against each other.

In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, the party says that introducing the bill at a time Nigerians are yearning for the fruits of democracy is not healthy to the life of the present democracy as it will once again, heat up the polity and further the ends of rancor and division among Nigerians. It urges President Jonathan and all other elected officials to work hard to justify their present mandates and not plot to get extension through the back door.

“We were surprised that what should be agitating the minds of President Jonathan at a time Nigeria is completely hobbled and when Nigerians are demanding for effective and result oriented governance, is tenure extension, which will ignite the polity in another frenzy of needless altercation. We do not understand why President Jonathan feels that Nigerians want the so-called six year tenure when there are such widespread feelings that most of the elected political office holders have not justified their single four years tenure.

“Lagos ACN strongly believes that the present renewable four years tenure is the best for the country as it will help remove incompetent officials and renew the tenure of those that have performed satisfactorily. We believe that what Nigerians need most now is a strengthened electoral system that will make it easy to change such non performers and not giving additional years to non performers. We believe that a strengthened electoral system will give greater power to the electorates to decide the fate of their elected officials and giving them more years will entail placing the people under prolonged bondage.

“We would have thought that with the many noticeable pitfalls that attended the electoral process whereby the process was hijacked by desperate politicians at some later stages, President Jonathan would have directed his energy towards ensuring that the process is further sanitized to give the people’s votes the required power to renew the tenure of performing elected officials or show the door to those that did not justify their first tenure. Giving a non performer a single six years mandate will just entrench impunity, corruption and all other forms of vices since the non performing office holder has nothing that will make him work for the people. Simply put, the single six years tenure idea will worsen the crisis of governance Nigeria is slaving under at present.

“Lagos ACN is even surprised that President Jonathan still finds sufficient time to plot a single six years tenure in the face of growing disenchantment that is pervading the polity as a result of the apparent directionless of governance. At a time Nigerians are at their wits to grapple what is perceived as a general lack of focus and direction in tackling the myriad of problems ravaging the country. We find it curious that what should engage the president is the plot for a single six years tenure, which even if passed, will never benefit him and the current office holders.

“We charge President Jonathan to face the task of governance squarely to tame the rising discontent in Nigeria and give Nigerians the elusive fruits of democracy. We charge President Jonathan to desist from anything that will exacerbate the crisis of governance Nigeria is facing at present. We charge the National Assembly to throw out this needless distraction and face the task of stemming the rising anger of Nigerians at the low yield of governance. We see this six year tenure as just another of the many bogeys that are meant to distract and divide Nigerians and urge Nigerians to resist it in the same manner they resisted the notorious third term bogey.”