By Tobi Soniyi (Punch Newspapers)
Published: Monday, 3 Aug 2009

Facts emerged in Abuja that the controversial tenure extension, which scuttled last attempt to review the 1999 Constitution has re-surfaced, as the panel set up to review the White Paper on electoral reforms has recommended that President Umaru Yar‘Adua stayed in office beyond 2011.

The panel headed by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakka (SAN), wants Yar’Adua to remain in office till 2013 in a six-year tenure arrangement.

A Federal Executive Council meeting convened last Wednesday to take a final position, reportedly ended in a stalemate.

This may have accounted for the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili’s apparent bid to avoid the usual briefing of State House correspondents on its outcome.

If the new plot materializes, it means that the President will have two additional years to the four-tenure prescribed by the 1999 Constitution.

The panel reportedly argued that Yar‘Adua ”would have completed the unbundling of the Independent National Electoral Commission,” by being in office for two more years.

The review committee which has the Secretary to the Federal Government, Alhaji Ahmed Yayale, and the Permanent Secretary, General Services, Hakeem Baba Ahmed as other members, had struck out some of the recommendations of the Justice Muhammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee.

A Presidency source who confided in Sunday Punch said that with the recommendations of the review committee, there would be no affirmative action for women, no proportional representations, while the President would still retain the power to appoint INEC commissioners.

Another source said, ”We are back where we were during the Obasanjo regime. Nothing is going to change. All the industry that went into the Justice Muhammadu Uwais‘ report will come to naught.”

Other fine recommendations, which the Aondoakaa committee has rejected, are as follows:

(1) Not to swear in the winner of an election until all election tribunal matters questioning the election have been resolved

(2) The shifting of the burden of proof on the conduct of election to INEC. Under the Review Committee recommendation, a loser will have to prove that the election was vitiated by fraud instead of INEC doing it as recommended by the Uwais panel.

(3) Abridgment of time within which all election petitions must be resolved to avoid a situation where someone who did not win an election will be allowed to occupy elective office.

The review committee initially comprised people from the northern region. But to confer some semblance of Federal Character, two Senior Advocates who are also ministers, Messrs Kayode Adetokunbo and Ajumogobia Odein were co-opted into it.

On February 25, The Punch had in an exclusive report published details of the White Paper for which the Aoandoakaa panel was asked to review.

One of the recommendations which provoked national outrage dealt with the implementation of the recommendations after 2011; and the opposition said it smacked of government‘s insincerity with the reforms.

Also, the White Paper being reviewed entrusted the National Judicial Council with the task of supervising the process leading to the appointment of INEC chairman, but the Aondoakaa committee is reported to have spurned the idea and vested the powers to appoint the electoral boss in the president.

The apex Yoruba socio-cultural organisation had scoffed at the earlier White Paper because of non inclusion of a Yoruba on the panel that prepared it.

The team that produced the White Paper being reviewed by Aoandoakaa and his team comprised five members from the North, two from the South-South, while the South-East had a representative.

Reacting to the recommendation of the review committee, the Alliance for Credible Elections said that the way and manner the presidency had handled the report of the ERC showed that it was preparing to rig the 2011 elections.

In a statement signed by ACE’s General Secretary, Mr. Emma Ezeazu, the group said that by rejecting the key recommendations of the Uwais’ report, the presidency had succeeded in killing the soul of this reform.

It said, ”By rigging the report of the ERC, the Federal Executive Council has already started the rigging of 2011 elections.

”We warn that by hindering a genuine reform of the electoral system, the Executive Council is already laying the foundation for bloody elections in 2011.”

The group called on the Council of State to rise above the narrow mindedness of the FEC and uphold the recommendations of the ERC.

It warned that if there was no genuine reform of the electoral system there would be no elections in 2011.

It said, ”ACE Nigeria will mobilise the people to reject any reform that is meant to perpetuate the loss of their sovereignty.

”We will mobilise the people to realise that true democracy is their only means of escape from the domination of evil and wicked rulers.”

Meanwhile, Section 135(2) of the Nigerian Constitution states that: Subject to the provision of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date, when (a) in the case of a person first elected as president under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office; and (b) in any other case, the person last elected to that office under this Consitution took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office or would, but for his death, have taken such oaths.

Meanwhile, attempts to reach the presidency to react to the development on Saturday night were unsuccessful as the Special Assistant to the President on Communications, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, failed to pick his calls.

here we go again!

The guy never do second term, he is already seeking tenure elongation

beleive what u like

we cnt be fooled

meddelin with press, hmmm someone strillin up stuff

sittin on the side line watchin how it goes down

hey clever plenti plenti

When DORA kept shouting that there is no division in the FEC that the press should give them up till wednesday this week for a conclusion i knew there was a serious problem. Some people are out to cause confusion but they will certainly fail.

that Minister of Justice is just bad news for nigerians, the guy is the worst thing to happen to our law system!!!

I'm waiting for Dora to throw in the dirty towel, unlucky that UN job is eluding her

they have no plans to move nigeria forward.
the only thing they consider worthy of changing in our constitution is tenure.
obj failed directly and has never relaxed since then hence indirect pursuit of life president.
the major problem of nigerian leaders is not knowing when to say bye.
champions are mearnt to resign when the ovation is high. dora did a great job when she was in nafdac but she fall for the information ministerial joke.
okonjo iweala distinguished herself by making us understand that she must not remain in power.
we are watching dora who is indirectly been used as the peace maker here.
their delay tactics will still not work this time.

personally i dont mind him doing a 6 years term on the condition that he in turn actualises the electoral reform commitees recommendations on inec, making inec truelly independent of the executive,sacking iwu,and having 3 other bodies working in concert with inec to decentralise its powers and safeguard against abuse

There they go again. Term elongation on the basis of performance or what? This Aondoakaa guy will eventually spell doom for this government.
The Electoral Panel recommended that National Judicial Institute should be the body to recommend INEC chairman to the Senate for ratification but
the Aondoakaa Panel removed this from the recommendations thereby retaining the president as the one who would continue to appoint INEC chairman.
Where then is the sincerity on the part of the government?

Term elongation my foot!!

What has the guy achieved in office to deserve even a second term?

Well, I wait to see how Nigerians in Nigeria react to this.

I think term elongation is good for a developing nation like Naija, America that have election every 4 years is already a developed nation and can afford to do it. In our own case, that 4 year thing does not really work because most of the Governors are active for the 1st 2 years, the last 2 years they start looking for money to fight an election that will be coming up in 2 years time. Most Governors do not really do anything in their last 2 years. Somebody like Fashola who wants to do a lot of projects will be able to complete the projects in 12 years. The downside is if you elect an inactive and corrupt Governor you are stuck with Governor for 12 years and that can be bad news.