Seeks unlimited multiple terms for President, govs
Wants president, govs stopped from supervising elections they ‘re contesting

By HENRY UMORU

AHEAD of plenary sessions where reports of the 20 standing committees would be discussed and adopted or jettisoned by delegates the umbrella body of the North, the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has vowed to resist any move to insert zoning of office of President and governors as a final recommendation. It said political parties should be left with the responsibility.

The group also wants a system where an incumbent president or governor is barred from supervising an election in which he is a candidate. It advocated for multiple terms for the two offices and their deputies as this would make room for motivation and reward, adding that Nigeria should go for multiple tenures that ae not consecutive as in Chile or in the alternative the creation of caretaker system as obtained in Bangladesh.

Maximum of two terms
Currently, the country has a maximum of two terms of four years each for president, governors and their deputies.

Opposes scrapping of councils: In an 11-page memorandum sub-divided into 20 headings and signed by former Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Coomassie, the ACF opposed plans to transfer the third tier of government, the local councils from the Federal Government to the states or abolition of the councils, adding that though, it never advocated  for the National Conference.

No recognition for six geo-political zones: Also kicking against the recognition of six geo-political zones, the ACF said that the six geo-political zones as federating units with their own states, police and local governments would not only have centrifugal effects on the centre, it would also make the country a confederation, which would lead to an eventual separation of Nigeria as a country. According to ACF, this “would amount to four tiers of government with dire consequences on the cost of governance and unity of the country.”

Additional state for S-East is counter-productive: In the position paper, ACF kicked against the unanimous recommendations of a National Conference Committees for the creation of an additional state for the South-East geo political zone because an additional state to the already existing 36-state structure and the Federal Capital Territory would be counter-productive. It argued that too many states translate to more cost of governance at the expense of socio-economic development.

Nothing wrong with current arrangement: Coomassie, who represents the North West geo-political zone and a co-chairman of Committee on Devolution of Power, in the position paper, stressed that the position of the North is that there is nothing wrong in the present form or structure of government.

He insisted that the current presidential system of government should remain. Noting that the presidential system has succeeded in the United States, he said the failure of the system in Nigeria has nothing to do with the system but the way and manner it is being operated in the country.

Trim down govt size: Opposing the parliamentary system, the ACF called for what it termed trimming down the size of government to ensure effective management of resources. It called for the merger of some government agencies including ministries, suggesting that appointments of ministers to represent geographical zones should be abolished especially when “such practice conveys the wrong headed impression that zones are also federating units.”

Five per cent derivation
Rejecting any alteration in structure and form of the Nigerian government, the ACF also endorsed the earlier position of the Northern delegates who had called for the reduction of the 13 percent derivation to five percent as well as the scrapping of offices like the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and Niger Delta Affairs Ministry.

He said, “The argument that creation of states should be on the basis of equality irrespective of population and landmass is inconsistent with elementary concept of justice, since injustice is not only when equals are treated unequally but also when unequal(s) are treated equally.”

On power devolution, ACF said, “Any devolution of power can still be achieved with appropriate adjustment in the exclusive list”.

According to the ACF position paper, “It is, therefore, the considered view of ACF that there is nothing wrong with the current federal structure with states as the federating units. All that is required is purposeful leadership that is humane in spirit, moral in purpose and wise in uses. ACF prefers multiple tenures for President/Governors because such system makes allowance for motivation and reward. But in the case of single term, the good and feckless are grouped together.

Incentive for leaders
“As a result, the only incentive for leaders is ability to pillage public funds at collective peril. However, if the search is for a way of eliminating abuse of incumbency, it may be more productive to consider the practice in Chile which allows for multiple tenures that are not consecutive.

That is to say, no President is allowed to conduct an election in which he is a candidate. Another alternative is to use the Bangladesh practice which uses Care-taker Government to conduct the elections.”

Calling for purposeful leadership as that which was required now in Nigeria, the ACF explained that  since a political economy makes the governments in Nigeria to determine who gets what, why, where, how and when, it may be difficult to do away with politics of identity called power shift, rotation and zoning.

On Fiscal federalism, ACF noted that  there was nowhere in the world that there was true federalism, adding that it was not opposed to  principle of derivation provided the aim was to compensate for the environmental degradation resulting from any exploration.