Saturday June 7, 2025|
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has advocated a single term of six years for elected political office holders across all levels of government in Nigeria, as against the current double term of four years each.
He noted that a single term of five or six years was enough for any government to focus and serve the people, and deliver on its mandate.
The Governor called for a constitutional amendment to effect this.
“I was just looking at the trajectory for me in government. I have spent six years already, and due to no fault of anybody, we lost the year 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We lost almost one year, campaigning all over the place for the second tenure. Now, people have started distracting us from what we want to do next and all of that. So, I feel that, effectively, the time we can say we are very serious with governance is just about five out of the eight years.
That is why I feel that if you remove all these distractions, a single tenure of five or six years is actually enough to focus and do the work that we are trying to do in eight years,” he said when Muslim faithful, including clerics, traditional rulers and political office holders, paid a visit to his Ikolaba, Ibadan residence, shortly after the Eid-el-Kabir prayers, held at the Eid Ground, Agodi, Ibadan, on Friday.
He said though his proposal was a constitutional issue, it was a model that should work for the country.
“Well, we shouldn’t be afraid to say the fact based on data that is available to us. It has nothing to do with me. If they say I should end it, so be it.
“So, I am just calling the attention of our people to this because it is a constitutional issue. We should start looking at it. I know that it has been brought to the attention of the National Assembly, but, quite frankly, it is a model that should work for this country,” he said.
The delegation, led by the Deputy Governor, Abdulraheem Lawal, included the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, Senator Rashidi Ladoja; former deputy governor and Peoples Democratic Party Deputy National Chairman, Taofeek Arapaja; and two other former deputy governors, Hazeem Gbolarumi and Hamid Gbadamosi.
Also present were the member representing Ibadan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency, Abass Agboworin, and the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Edo, and Delta States, Alhaji Dawodu Makanjuola, among others.
