6-Year Single Term: Fashola, Nwabueze Disagree

Governor Babatunde Fashola and elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze have disagreed over the 6-year single term proposal for president, governors and other elected politicians in Nigeria.

While Nwabueze supports the proposed single term for political office holders, Fashola kick against it.

The two leaders spoke when Nwabueze visited the governor at the State House, Ikeja, in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, on Monday to present copies of his autobiography to Fashola.

According to Nwabueze, the proposed one term tenure of either five or six years for political office holders would provide more opportunities for those seeking elective offices easily than the present two terms.

The renowned scholar reiterated his belief in an indivisible Nigeria that is transformed and where everybody is happy, adding that corruption in Nigeria was different because it is committed with a sense of impunity.

But Fashola kicked against it, saying he was not yet convinced about the propriety of the proposition, stating that the power of the electorate to say no was inherent in multi-term tenures and would be removed if there was only one term to be served.

During the visit the governor called on all to speak and act against the culture of impunity pervading the nation, saying that the impunity that everyone was talking about would persist unless the people and government took decisive action against it by punishing those who erred.

“There must be a capacity to punish. You cannot fight impunity if it is only the Federal Government that can build the prisons as it exists in the Exclusive Legislative List. We must do a lot more.

“The age-long solution to impunity is to repeal it by law, to punish those who offend. The capacity to punish those who offend would not be there if there is no capacity for law enforcement. We should increase the policing level in a collaborative manner across different tiers of government,” he stated.

Fashola said that a few weeks ago, judgment was delivered by a Lagos High Court against the police for killing a citizen during the last fuel subsidy protest, explaining that when the incident happened the Lagos State Government led from the front to take action against the law enforcement agents for their actions against citizens.

He stated that the High Court agreed with the position of the state government and awarded what might be regarded as tokens for lost lives, adding that what was however uppermost was that justice was done and that there was a need to see more of such happening across the country.

Fashola added that if Nigeria must continue as a federal arrangement, it was the states that should be the focus rather than the government at the centre, saying the best that the central government should do was to assist the states and also liberate them.

According to him, the government at the centre must resist the temptation to encroach on the political and fiscal territories of the states and ensure that the prosperity of the state should become the prosperity of the country.

Earlier, Nwabueze said he was at the Lagos House, Ikeja to see the governor and also present the two volumes of his autobiography so that he could squeeze time to read the two volumes before they are launched.

He later presented a copy of Volume 1 and 2 of his new books titled, Ben Nwabueze: His Life, Works and Times-An Autobiography to Fashola.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga