One issue that has come to take a prominent position in Nigerian political discourse today, ahead of the 2027 presidential elections, is the idea of a single tenure option.
When the residential Candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Peter Obi, first pledged that, if he is elected President in 2027, he will only serve for a single four-year tenure and hand over power, his political opponents kicked very hard, alleging that his pledge was a mere political ploy to deceive Nigerians, especially the North.
Anyone who knows Mr. Peter Obi and Nigerian reality could easily tell that the reaction of his opponents to that harmless pledge drew from the fact that Obi’s opponents, on hearing such a pledge, became jittery, afraid that such a promise will win for Obi more confidence and support of the North as the region expects to regain power after the next four years.
So, to create doubt and possibly destroy likely electoral gains that will ultimately follow such an informed proposal, Obi’s opponents alleged he, Obi, was not telling Nigerians the whole truth; that he, like most of them, cannot willingly relinquish power after a single tenure of four years and that he only wants to use this scheme to win election, after which he would renege on the promise.
Those who argue this way contend vehemently that no average Nigerian will taste political power as it is in our clime and willingly let go of it, until he or she is constitutionally barred from continuing in office.
This is the postulation that made the proposal of a single tenure most intriguing ever since Obi formally made it ahead of 2027 elections.
Of course, the phrase “single tenure” did not start from Obi’s campaigns ahead of 2027. No! It is a very old phrase in Nigerian political oratory.
The point is that, over the years, nobody actually took it seriously in Nigerian political landscape, perhaps because it seems no one ever believed it could actually be implemented by any Nigerian President or Governor.
This is where the current proposals and usages become worrisome to Obi’s opponents because they know and are afraid that Nigerians will most likely believe in Obi’s ability to actually implement this proposal.
This is so because of the widely held knowledge that Obi has so far proved not to be an average Nigerian, at least given that even government and his political opponents have not been able to prove he is as soiled as most of the other politicians in Nigeria.
Aware of Obi’s proven uniqueness, his opponents have been so mortally afraid that most of the electorate in the North will believe Obi on the single tenure issue and that, when they do and vote for him to emerge Nigerian President in 2027, Obi will most likely do what he pledged to do, that is, serve only for a single tenure and peacefully hand over power.
Bearing these realities in mind, such politicians have since been fighting dirty, sponsoring write-ups, radio, television and online commentaries where they suggest or try to argue and portray single-tenure arrangement as something that cannot work in Nigeria; something we must not trust any Nigerian politician on.
They argued that it was only Obi that was proposing such an arrangement and that he went to that extent only because he is too desperate to become Nigerian President now.
This wrong impression has, however, been punctured by the recent decision of the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, to also pledge to serve a single four-year term, if he becomes elected as Nigeria’s President in the forthcoming 2027 presidential election.
The simple interpretation anyone can give to this single-tenure proposal at a time like this is that, with Obi’s unshakable promise added to Makinde’s proposal, too, it has become clear that single tenure has become an option whose time has come.
For candidates like Obi and, later, Makinde, to propose this option, it can be seen that there is something beneficial that the arrangement will offer Nigeria in its current political reality and in our honest resolve to move forward as a nation.
This being the case, I make bold to say here today that the argument of Obi pledging single tenure out of mere desperation to be President is clearly outdated and without merit.
To me, such an argument is oblivious of the desperation and numerous evils associated with re-election in Nigeria.
In my opinion, re-election desperation is and has always been the root cause of poor governance and violent campaigns during elections. It is also one of the reasons elected political leaders in Nigeria abandon governance as they start their re-election strategies and mobilisation almost in the first year of their tenure.
Ideally, performance should be the basis for re-election but ours is a polity that has become so polluted by praise singers and charlatans that unperforming leaders come to believe they have actually tried and therefore need re-election.
So, I am of the view that any arrangement that will no longer allow re-election of political leaders who see office like an entitlement will do Nigeria a lot of good.
The lie that any region or part whose son or daughter emerges President or Governor must conclude a second tenure, simply because some other presidents or governors from other regions or parts served for two terms of eight years must be seen for what it is in reality – a lie.
What the Constitution of Nigeria provides is for a four-year tenure and for a maximum tenure of two terms for the President and state governors.
These provisions only mean a President or a state governor should NOT serve as President or governor for more than two terms of eight years. They never said a President or state governor must serve for two terms of eight years.
They also never said a political region or part must hold on to power for eight years. No! Such claims are born out of sit-tight greed, tribalism and super corrupt tendencies.
I am aware also that Nigerian laws have no single-tenure provisions for the President or state governors.
What our laws provide in Sections 135(2) and 180(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, is that the President and governors should serve a term of four years from the date they take their oaths of office.
This reality has not removed the wisdom in a President or a governor serving only one term and handing over.
If this idea becomes acceptable to the majority of politicians and a President shows courage to lead the way here, I am of the view that it will reduce tension and extreme antagonism in our polity.
If a President knows that he is not going to contest, that singular knowledge, in my view, will help persuade the President or Governor to face governance and development, instead of getting deeply involved in hostile politicking.
Perhaps, it is for this reason that some top politicians are currently putting pressure for all to contemplate the numerous benefits of single tenure arrangement.
For long now, lawmakers at the National Assembly, backed up by top political leaders and political parties have been making moves at effecting constitutional amendment that will help introduce a Single Six-Year Term Proposal for Nigeria.
Recall that lawmakers have repeatedly introduced constitutional amendment bills—such as those by former President Goodluck Jonathan, House member Ikenga Ugochinyere, and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele.”
The aim of the bills is essentially”to replace the two-term system with a single six-year tenure to curb re-election distractions and campaign costs.”
With recent pledges by Obi and Makinde to serve only a single tenure if elected, coming before the required constitutional amendment, it is obvious this idea is an idea which time has really come.
In my opinion, any political leader that offers a proposal like this must have carefully studied the letters of our laws and beyond.
He must have studied the spirit of our laws, which, like that of any other law in the world, is that re-election must be based on performance and not on any form of entitlement or sentiment.
Besides, it seems reasonable to believe that any President or Governor that cannot perform well in the first tenure of four years, will certainly not do much if allowed to remain in office for eight years. This is why we must not only believe Peter Obi and Seyi Makinde on their promises of serving a single tenure but also demand that this system be given all the legal backing it requires as soon as possible.
• Samuel Hezekiah Egburonu Esq, is a lawyer, veteran journalist, literary scholar and current affairs analyst.
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