The genesis of the bill might not be unconnected with the circumstances that led to the ascension to power of ex- President Goodluck Jonathan following the death of President Umaru Yar’adua on May 5, 2010, less than three years into his first term.
Before Jonathan, Yobe State Deputy Governor Ibrahim Gaidam was sworn in as governor on January 26, 2009 following the death of Governor Mamman Ali, less than two years into his first term. Both Gaidam and Jonathan won fresh terms of office in 2011.
Both also went for second terms in 2015 but while Gaidam won, Jonathan lost. A man in those circumstances would have been governor or president for more than the constitutionally stipulated minimum of eight years.
Some analysts, lawyers and politicians had long contended that it breached the spirit, if not the letter of the 1999 Constitution. Section 37(1)(b) disqualifies a person from contesting for president or governor if he had been elected twice.
They contended that a man in that position was sworn-in three times but the fact that Gaidam and Jonathan only completed the tenures of their predecessors, those supporting their bids said they did not trample on any law of the land.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division had ruled in March 2015 that President Goodluck Jonathan had only taken the oath of office once and therefore upheld his eligibility to contest the 2015 elections.
The court held that the oath of office Mr. Jonathan took in 2010 was to complete the “unexpired tenure” of President Umaru Yar’adua.
The appeal was brought before the court by Cyriacus Njoku who was challenging the ruling of the High Court of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja which on March 1, 2013 dismissed the suit he filed to stop Mr. Jonathan from contesting the 2015 polls.
In a lead judgement delivered by Justice Abubakar Yahaya, the full panel of the court unanimously held that Mr. Jonathan had only spent one term in office as President going by the provision of the Constitution.
Jonathan was empowered as acting President on February 9, 2010, following a motion for “doctrine of necessity” by the Senate, owing to the protracted stay of President Umaru Yar’adua in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment.
Yar’adua eventually died on May 5 and Jonathan was sworn in as president.
The matter however remained contentious in the political arena despite the court rulings that cleared the course for both Gaidam and Jonathan.
It is only the signing of the new law by President Muhammadu Buhari that finally settled the matter, meaning henceforth no vice president or deputy governor who succeeded his principal would contest elections twice.
Speaking after the president’s assent, National Assembly Liaison Officer Ita Enang said contesting and winning elections the second time would amount to taking an oath of office the third time.
He said, “Bill Number 16 which is now an Act and the intent of that Act is to ensure that where a vice president succeeds the president and where a deputy governor succeeds a governor, he can no more contest for that office more than once.
And the fact is that having taken the oath as president once, and you can only contest for it once again and no more. That is the intent of this amendment.”
We agree that this amendment is more in accord with the spirit of the Constitution that elected executives should not serve for more than eight years.
They may have performed well in office, as Governor Gaidam has done but staying in office for that long creates stress and tension in the political class and robs the political process of turnover and vibrancy.
We therefore hail the passing and signing into law of this amendment as another step towards perfecting Nigeria’s democracy.
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