Makinde Seeks Six-Year Single Term For Political Office Holders
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has advocated a single term of six years for elected political office holders across all levels of government in Nigeria, as against the current double term of four years each.
Makinde spoke when Muslim faithful, including clerics, traditional rulers, and political officeholders, paid a visit to his Ikolaba residence in Ibadan shortly after the Eid-el-Kabir prayers, held at the Eid Ground in Agodi, Ibadan, on Friday.
He noted that a single term of five or six years was sufficient for any government to focus on serving the people and delivering on its mandate.
He called for a constitutional amendment to effect this.
“I was just looking at the trajectory for me in government. I have spent six years already, and due to no fault of anybody, we lost the year 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We lost almost one year, campaigning all over the place for the second tenure. Now, people have started distracting us from what we want to do next and all of that. So, I feel that, effectively, the time we can say we are very serious with governance is just about five out of the eight years.
“That is why I feel that if you remove all these distractions, a single tenure of five or six years is actually enough to focus and do the work that we are trying to do in eight years.”
He said though his proposal was a constitutional issue, it was a model that should work for the country.
“Well, we shouldn’t be afraid to say the fact based on data that is available to us. It has nothing to do with me. If they say I should end it, so be it.
“So, I am just calling the attention of our people to this because it is a constitutional issue. We should start looking at it. I know that it has been brought to the attention of the National Assembly, but, quite frankly, it is a model that should work for this country,” he said.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
