Reps Reject 6-yr Tenure For President, Govs; Dump State Creation

ABUJA—Indication emerged Thursday that the House of
Representatives has dumped the clamour for the creation of
new states in the country.
The House has also distanced itself from the request for a
six-year single tenure for the President and governors,
sticking to the provision of the 1999 Constitution of two
terms of four years each.
These formed the highlights of the report of the Constitution
Review Committee, headed by the Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives counterpart, Emeka Ihedioha,
which is due for presentation next week.
Vanguard learnt from competent sources that the
committee, however, recommended full autonomy for the
774 LGAs and the 36 Houses of Assembly in the country.
It was gathered that the committee decided to jettison the
creation of new states following the pressure mounted by
some Northern governors and political leaders that they did
not want new states at the moment.
Pressure from Northern governors
One of the northern governors recently described the move
by the National Assembly for new states as a waste of time
and resources and asked the members to discontinue with
the exercise.
The outspoken governor had also accused the lawmakers of
trying to weaken the north with new states, a development
that drew criticisms from the House, which described his
utterances as unbecoming of his position.
It was learnt that although almost all the states
endorsed state creation during the nationwide collation
of opinions, the issue was later ‘shut down’ to calm
frayed nerves.
A lawmaker, who is familiar with the development, said,
“The issue of state creation generated a lot of controversy
and we have decided to dump the matter in the interest of
peace.
“We don’t want a situation where the good work done by
the committee to be rubbished as a result of controversial
items. We have therefore endorsed autonomy for the local
governments and the various state houses of assembly,
something we believe, will bring about stability and
progress in the states.
It was not, however, clear if state governors, who were not
comfortable with any form of autonomy for the local
governments and their Houses of Assembly, would allow the
matter to scale through when it is reverted for voting in
their respected states.
For any of the items approved by the constitution review
committee to become law, 24 out of the 36 Houses of
Assemblies must concur.
Already, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, is opposed to
local government autonomy, on the grounds that the third
tier of government is part and parcel of the respective
states, with whom they maintain joint accounts.