Co-chairman, Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government, Ike Nwachukwu
The National Conference Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Regime has recommended what it called “modified presidential system of government” for the country.
In this regard, the committee recommended that presidential candidates must run as sole candidates while the triumpher of the election should pick his deputy among the members of the National Assembly.
The report of the committee, headed by Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (retd.), and Mr. Mohammed Kuamila, was debated by the delegates on Wednesday.
The report verbally expressed, “There shall be a candidate for an election to the office of the president and he or she shall run as a sole candidate. There shall be a Vice President for the federation but the president-elect shall cull him from the legislature. The president shall exercise full responsibility for his regime and he shall cull the ministers from the legislature.”
The members of the committee withal resolved that these provisions as applicable to the President “shall apply mutatis mutandi (making only obligatory changes) with regard to the election of the governor and the regime under his charge.
On legislature, the committee verbalized “there shall be a unicameral legislature, whose members’ tenure shall be plenary time.”
It verbally expressed that the membership distribution of the legislature should be 50 per cent predicated on equity of states and 50 per cent predicated on population.
The committee integrated that the tenure of members of the legislature should be four years, without term limit, but subject to re-election at the terminus of each term.
It additionally suggested the adoption of a staggered election system and to effect this, the committee verbalized that two contiguous constituencies should engender one representative, integrating that after two years, election should be conducted in the constituency, other than those of the current member.
Concerning power rotation, the committee verbally expressed that the Electoral Act and the constitution of the political parties should provide for the principle of zoning and rotation of elective positions at the federal and verbalize levels on the substratum of equity, equity and fairness.
The rotation, it verbalized, must additionally take into cognizance the participation of women, youths and the physically challenged in the political process and the domestication of the convention for the elimination of discrimination against women.
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