The House of Representatives has rejected a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution (as amended) for the tenure extension of president, governors and council chairmen to a single six years.
The majority of the House members opposed the bill when it was brought up for discussion during plenary on Thursday.
The bill, seeking to alter some sections of the constitution, was sponsored by a member, Ikenga Ugochinyere, from Imo State and 33 other lawmakers.
The proposed legislation also seeks zonal rotation of presidential and governorship seats and conduct of elections in one day.
“These amendments are to ensure inclusive governance and to curb wastages occasioned by four year periodic elections”, according to the general principles of the bill.
The proposed legislation is also designed to ensure constant rotation of the presidency between the North and South regions of the country.
The proposal read, “The bill among others seeks amendment of Section 132 of the Principal Act by inserting a new subsection (2), deleting the extant subsection (4) and renumbering the entire section accordingly to provide that an election to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be rotated between the North and the South regions of the country every six years.
“Other amendments include, Section 76 of the Principal Act is altered by inserting a new subsection (3) as follows; (3) For the Purposes of Section (1) of this section, all elections into the offices of President, Governors, National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly shall hold simultaneously on the same date to be determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission in consultation with the National Assembly and in accordance with the Electoral Act.’’
