Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has announced plans to sponsor a bill introducing a single six-year tenure for Nigeria’s president and state governors, to take effect after the 2027 general elections.
Speaking with reporters in his office on Tuesday, Bamidele said the proposed legislation would be among the first he presents when the next Senate is inaugurated. He argued that a single, longer term would allow elected leaders to focus entirely on governance, rather than on re-election campaigns.
“One of the first set of bills that I look forward to moving, by God’s grace, when we come back for the 11th Senate, is a bill that will make it possible for anyone who wants to be president of this country, or governor in any part of this country, to spend only one term of six years,” Bamidele said.
He criticized the current two-term arrangement, noting that it forces officeholders to spend a significant portion of their first term on political calculations and preparations for re-election.
“So that you don’t even have to worry about wasting almost one and a half years of your first term thinking and struggling and looking forward to how you’ll be re-elected,” he explained. “If you know you are there for six years, only one tenure, you put in your best from day one. You know this is the only chance that you have.”
Acknowledging that the proposal may not attract universal support, Bamidele maintained that lawmakers have a duty to pursue reforms they believe will strengthen governance.
“That’s my opinion. It doesn’t mean everybody will agree with me. But it also does not mean that I am prevented from doing that because that has not been the law,” he said. “The essence of law, the essence of parliament, is that laws are like human beings; they grow.”
If formally introduced and passed by the National Assembly, the proposal would require constitutional amendments before it can take effect.