The former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Presidential flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opined that, the six-year single term for Presidents and Governors rejected by the House of Representatives would have prevented election rigging by “desperate” incumbents political office holders.
It can be recalled that on Tuesday, 17th December, 2019, the lower legislative chamber during a plenary session, rejected a bill seeking to provide for such a term for the President and Governor.
Hours after the bill was turned down, Atiku described the rejection as a missed opportunity that would have improved Nigeria’s democratic process.
Atiku expressed his displeasure through a statement signed by Paul Ibe, his spokesman saying, Nigeria’s current system of a single tenure of four years with a maximum of two terms rewards incompetence. In his view, even incumbents that have failed would use their access to public funds to return to power by fair or foul means.
The statement reads in part “In view of the challenges facing our current democratic order, especially the culture of rigging that subverts the will of the people, six-year single term would have ended such untoward practices in our electoral process,” Atiku opined.
He further stated that “A situation where the incumbents deploy more public resources to their second term projects than using the funds for people’s welfare encourages massive rigging that undermines electoral integrity. Six-year single term would remove such desperation and enable the incumbents concentrate on the job for which they were elected in the first place.”
