By; JOSHUA I. EGBODO, Abuja.
As the House of Representatives goes deeper into another constitution amendment, Chairman of its Ad hoc panel for the review, and Deputy Speaker of the House, Suleimon Yussuff Lasun is introducing a bill seeking to restrict to a single term of office for anybody who has for any reason, holds office of the president or governor of a state, if subsequently elected.
The new proposal, if passed into law shall apply where such a person assumed the office for a period of two years, even where another person may have been elected to that office.
“No person who had held office of president or governor of a State or acting as president or governor of a state for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected president or governor, shall be elected to the office of President or governor of a state more than once”, the proposed bill stated in part.
A statement by Mr Wole Oladimeji, Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, disclosed that the aim of the Bill which has scaled first reading on the floor of the House is to give constitutional protection to the two term tradition.
The statement reads; “By virtue of the combine provisions of sections 137 (1) (b) and 182 (1) (b) of the constitution, the president of Nigeria and governor of a state shall serve in those capacities for a maximum period of eight years.
“However, the constitution equally envisaged circumstances where a person can be chosen to act as president or governor. These include: when the president or a governor resigns, dies or is impeached.
“If the Bill is passed, when a person is chosen to act as president or governor of a state and the person serves for more than two years in a four years term, that person shall only be eligible to contest election to the same office only once”.
According to the statement, the move “is inspired by the 22nd amendment to the constitution of the United States of America which provides: ‘No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice and no person who has held office of President or acted as president for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected president shall be elected to the office of President more than once’.
