The government has accepted a key recommendation of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) to extend the tenure of the President and Members of Parliament from four years to five years.
Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, announced this while presenting the government’s White Paper on the committee’s recommendations.
According to him, the decision is aimed at giving governments more time to implement and assess their policies before returning to the electorate.
“The government has accepted a recommendation to extend the term of office of the president from four years to five years, with the term of Parliament extended to correspond with this,” Dr Ayine said.
He explained that the current four-year electoral cycle often leaves administrations with limited time to fully execute their programmes because the beginning of government is affected by transition activities, while the final year is dominated by election preparations.
“Our thinking is practical. Under the current four-year cycle, the early months of every administration are consumed by transition matters, and the final year is largely consumed by elections,” he added.
Dr Ayine said the proposed five-year term would provide a more realistic period for governments to formulate, implement and evaluate policies.
Meanwhile, government has also accepted, in principle, a recommendation to reduce the minimum age requirement for presidential candidates, but with a modification.
The Constitutional Review Committee proposed reducing the current age requirement from 40 years to 30 years. However, the government has opted for a minimum age of 35 years.
“Still under the presidency, the committee recommended that the minimum age of eligibility for election as president be reduced from 40 years, currently in the Constitution, to 30 years. The government has accepted this recommendation in principle, subject to one modification,” Dr Ayine stated.
He added that the details of the proposed constitutional amendments would be developed through the constitutional review process.
