Arewa chieftain rejects Atiku’s five-year presidency proposal

Irked by the suggestion of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s single five-year presidency, Arewa Chieftain Elder Anthony Sani has said that such a political model will not promote purposeful leadership for Nigeria.

Sani, a former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), noted that Atiku’s proposal would not address the issue of diversity in the country.

In a statement on Saturday, Elder Sani questioned, “Do you support Atiku’s suggestion that a single tenure of five years for president be rotated among the six geopolitical zones, given that single tenure doesn’t allow for reward or sanction based on performance?

“In a single tenure, there is no room for motivation as an instrument for purposeful leadership, since the good and the feckless are treated the same.

“Single tenure does not address the challenges posed by diversity. If the reason for it is the fear of incumbency abuse, Nigeria could consider adopting the multiple tenure model practised by Chile and Uruguay, where a president cannot serve two consecutive terms.

“A president can serve more than one term, but not consecutively. This would prevent a president from organising an election in which he is a candidate.

“Multiple non-consecutive terms would prevent incumbency abuse while retaining rewards for performance and sanctions for non-performance—best practices globally.”
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