Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, Senate Leader
Senate Leader, Chief Victor Ndoma-Egba, has said Nigerians, and not the legislators, would decide the fate of the proposed bill on single six-year term for the executive arm whenever it was presented to the National Assembly for consideration.
A bill for a law of that nature, he explained, could not be the product of only the National Assembly, because it must have inputs from state houses of assembly and members of the public, including subjecting it to a referendum if necessary.
Ndoma-Egba told newsmen in Calabar that the National Assembly was yet to be presented with a copy of the proposed executive bill and described criticisms against the bill as unnecessary.
According to him, the proposed six-year single term for the president and 36 governors of the federation was already in the public domain and had a been hijacked by a section of the public who were now giving it different interpretations.
He debunked the allegation that the senate was against the bill which the presidency packaged, stressing that it was not true that senators were opposed to a bill which they have not seen in the first place nor were they out to frustrate the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
According to Ndoma-Egba, who represents Cross River Central senatorial district: “It has not even gotten to the national assembly for us to consider taking it or throwing it out. It is a proposal that we read on the pages of papers and hear in the press like any other section of the Nigerian public.
“The proposal hasn’t reached us, when it reaches the National Assembly, we have a process. Single term will require constitutional amendment and if you know the mechanics for constitution amendment, the states are involved. There is no constitutional amendment started by the National Assembly and ended with it.
“The states are involved and the implication of having states involved is that for any amendment to be passed, you must have the approval of at least two-thirds of the state houses of assembly in the country.
"The implication, in my view, is that before you can pass any amendment to the constitution including a proposal for a six-year single term, you must have had enough national conversation around the issue and a national consensus has to be built around that issue.”
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