Follow Us on Google
By Lawrence Agbo
Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has proposed a major overhaul of Nigeria’s executive tenure system, saying he plans to sponsor legislation that would limit presidents and governors to a single six-year term in office.
Bamidele said the proposal is aimed at reducing the influence of re-election politics on governance and ensuring elected leaders devote their full attention to delivering on campaign promises.
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday, the lawmaker disclosed that the bill would rank among his priority legislative initiatives in the next Senate following the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the current two-term structure often compels office holders to begin plotting their political future shortly after assuming office, leaving governance to compete with electoral calculations.
“One of the first set of bills that I look forward to moving, by God’s grace, when we come back for the 11th Senate, God willing, is for a bill that will only make it possible for anyone who wants to be president of this country, or governor in any part of this country, to spend only one term of six years,” he said.
Bamidele argued that leaders would perform better if they were guaranteed a fixed tenure without the burden of seeking a second mandate.
“So that you don’t even have to worry about wasting almost one and a half years of your first term thinking and struggling and looking forward to how you’ll be re-elected,” he stated.
“If you know you are there for six years, only one tenure, you put in your best from day one. You know this is the only chance that you have.”
The Senate leader acknowledged that the idea would likely provoke differing opinions but maintained that constitutional reforms remain essential to improving the country’s democratic system.
“That’s my opinion. It doesn’t mean everybody will agree with me. But it also does not mean that I am prevented from doing that because that has not been the law,” he said.
He added that legislation must evolve to address emerging realities, stressing that Parliament has a responsibility to review and amend laws when necessary.
“The essence of law, the essence of parliament, is that laws are like human beings; they grow,” Bamidele said.
The proposal is expected to reopen discussions about executive tenure, a subject that has repeatedly surfaced in Nigeria’s political landscape since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
Advocates of a single-term system argue that it would free leaders from election-related distractions and encourage long-term planning, while opponents contend that it would deprive citizens of the opportunity to either renew or withdraw a leader’s mandate through a second-term election.
Should the bill secure approval from the National Assembly, it would still require extensive constitutional amendments and ratification by at least two-thirds of state Houses of Assembly before becoming law.
