By Kolawole Ojebisi
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has called on the National Assembly to tinker with certain sections of the Constitution to address issues bordering on tenure of office, running of politics parties among others in the country.
Atiku, who is a former Vice-President, made this request for an amendment of the Nigerian grundnorm in a letter he wrote to the highest law-making organ on Monday.
According to the letter, the PDP presidential candidate in the last election advocated for a six-year single term for the President and state governors.
Also proposed in the memorandum to the Senate Committee on Constitutional Review are issues on power sharing, electoral procedures and upgrade of educational qualifications of candidates presented by political parties.
Atiku suggested that the presidency be rotated between the North and South
He stated, “The office of the President shall rotate among the six geopolitical zones of the federation on a single term of six years, flowing between the North and South on the single term of six years respectively.”
Atiku urged the National Assembly to “amend Section 135(2) to read: ‘Subject to the provisions of subsection (1), the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of six years.’”
The former Vice-President, who cited an abberation in nomenclature in Section 285(14)(a), urged the Constitutional Review committee to consider the substitution of the word “aspirant” in the section with “voter”
The Waziri Adamawa also proposed that the minimum educational qualification for a person to run for election should be the Ordinary National Diploma instead of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. He proposed an amendment to Section 65(2)(a) to read: “He has been educated up to at least Ordinary National Diploma in any recognised academic institution.”
According to the memorandum, he recommended the insertion of a paragraph in Section 65(2)(a)(i) to read: “Evidence of certificates of all educational qualifications of a candidate shall be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission or an affidavit by the candidate in the event of loss of his/her educational certificates, qualifications obtained, and dates, stating the schools attended.”
Atiku also advocated for political parties to have more power in the candidate selection process. He proposed an “amendment to Section 65(2)(b) to read: ‘He is a member of a political party whose name is in the register to be made available by his political party to the Independent National Electoral Commission 30 days before the conduct of the political party’s primary and he is sponsored by that party.’”
Recall that Atiku has been a staunch advocate of a single term of six-years for anybody occupying the presidential seat since 2007 when the Obasanjo’s presidency was in its twilight.
He believes his stance will ensure free, fair and credible elections and prevent the president from using the power of incumbency to influence the election results in his favour or install his favourite candidates who are likely to be candidates from his political party in power
