PDP Recommends 7-year Single Term for President

PDP Recommends 7-year Single Term for President• Six years for governors, three for council chairFrom Chuks Okocha in Abuja, 06.27.2008
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday submitted a seven-year single term for President and six-year single term for governors as part of its recommendations to the Electoral Reform Committee in Abuja.It also recommended a zoning arrangement on the basis of North and South for the presidency and rotation along senatorial zones for the governorship.The recommendation submitted before the reform panel at its sitting in Abuja may also bring to the fore again the contentious issue of tenure of president and governors.The 1999 Constitution in operation in the country okays two terms of four years each for president and governors.In its eleven-page recommendation signed by PDP National Chairman Vincent Ogbulafor but presented by National Publicity Secretary Ahmed Rufai Alkali, the party said in view of the fact that incumbency had become a major obstacle; calling on incumbents to resign before elections no doubt would create anarchy and disorder.In this regard, “PDP therefore recommends a system of tenure of seven years for President, six years for governors and three years for local government chairmen. In the case of the Houses of Assembly and National Assembly, candidates may continue to seek re-election as long as they are electable.”The party also recommends a six-month interval between election and swearing-in to enable all petitions to be disposed off before winners assume office.According to the party, the presidency should rotate between the North and South, while the governorship should rotate among the senatorial zones.PDP also called for the de-registration of political parties that fail to win at least 10 per cent seats in the National Assembly. This, it said, became necessary if the party must enjoy financial support and recognition of the electoral body.Also, the party recommended proportional representation for women at the electoral, administrative and all executive levels, while urging the electoral panel to propose the Open Ballot System for the country in the interim until the country becomes politically matured.Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) have called for the re-introduction of the Option A4 introduced by the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.In separate papers presented by General I.B.M. Haruna and Chief Isaac Shaahu for the ACF and MBF respectively, they described Option A4 as the best electoral system capable of eliminating rigging and other electoral vices.Both ACF and MBF also advocated a two-party system and the scrapping of state electoral commissions.While ACF called for stiff punishment for electoral offenders including jail terms of up to 21 years, MBF called for a 2-year punishment for all categories of electoral offenders, including INEC officials.MBF further called for the inclusion of Electronic Voting Machine, while people with physical disabilities supported the call for electronic voting with a modification for Electronic Audio Voting System to help the dumb, deaf and blind in casting their voting.The chairman of the group, Brandison Hart, said that this became necessary because there were over 19 million Nigerians that are physically challenged.