NANS Condemns Proposed Six-Year Single Term Bill, Threatens Nationwide Protest

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has voiced its opposition to the proposed bill that seeks to establish a single six-year term for the President and state governors. The association has labeled the bill as “anti-democracy and an attempt to stifle people’s choice”.

Reports revealed that the bill, proposed last week by 35 members of the House of Representatives under the banner of Reformed-minded Legislators, also advocates for the rotation of the presidency among the country’s six geopolitical zones. The legislators argue that such a move would reduce the cost of governance.

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However, NANS has called on Nigerians, pro-democracy groups, organized labor, and trade unions to rally against the bill. At a press conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the National Clerk of the Senate of NANS, Yekini Adewale, dismissed the bill as “a smokescreen” designed to distract Nigerians from the current economic hardships they are experiencing.

The student body has threatened to organize nationwide protests against the bill. Adewale warned that if the bill becomes law, it would undermine accountability, probity, transparency, and responsibility among political leaders.

He stated, “Yes, democracy thrives on the pedestal of a synergy between the three arms of government, but when a key arm, such as the legislature, proposes bills and peradventure passes laws that stifle people’s choices or throw spanners in the wheel of the tenets of democracy, then, it is disheartening and must not be allowed."

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“NANS, as a non-governmental organization and the only pressure group that has been agitating for the continued survival and sustainability of our hard-earned democracy from being truncated, does not only condemn the proposed bills, but call on Nigerians to move against such step aimed at achieving a selfish agenda by some unscrupulous politicians.”

Adewale further warned, “If the proposed bills are allowed to see the light of the day, then, our democracy is in total jeopardy. Any president or governor who realizes that he cannot seek a second term in office, may rather busy himself feathering his own nest instead of delivering good governance to the electorate."

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He added, “Expunging the second term from our constitution is synonymous to extinguishing the only power the electorate has to vote out any non-performing president or governor. As a student body in the country, we shall mobilize our members massively against these bills seeking to efface accountability, probity, transparency, and responsibility from the elected executives and lawmakers."

Adewale concluded by announcing plans for a mass march against the National Assembly, stating, “To further demonstrate our rejection of these anti-democratic, anti-people and anti-progress bills, a day will be set aside for Nigerian students to embark on a mass march against the National Assembly.”