Single term not enough for Nigerian lawmakers

A former Senate President, David Mark, has said a single tenure is not enough for members of the National Assembly, and called for lawmakers to be given the chance to serve for more than four years.

Mr Mark, who served for four terms spanning 20 years in the House before leaving in 2019, said new lawmakers do not know their way around in the first four years.

The former lawmaker, who is now the national chairperson of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), spoke on Saturday at the launch of the book ‘The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria’, authored by a former senator, Effiong Bob.

Premium Times Books published the book.

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Mr Mark, a retired brigadier general who represented Benue South Senatorial District in the upper chamber from 1999, didn’t specify whether his appeal was directed at political parties or the electorate, but he noted that experienced lawmakers also have more influence in the house.

“I want to appeal that members, legislators, are giving more than one term, two terms, three terms. I spent 20 years in the Senate, and I’m very grateful to my electorate and constituency for giving me that opportunity,” he said.

According to him, in his last years in the Senate, he needed no rule book as he already knew all the rules by heart.

“(In) the first four years in the National Assembly, you don’t know your way around. You are just lost. You need more than that,” he said.

“The point I’m trying to emphasise is, this business of saying our own area here is only one term or two terms, then as soon as they elect you, (they say) ‘you are not going to spend more than four years, so make maximum use of it’.  The maximum use will not be in four years.”

‘The Burdens’

Speaking about the book, Mr Mark commended the author, Mr Bob, for the courage to document the experiences of lawmakers while also sharing his own personal experiences.

While he admitted some of the lawmakers’ burdens are self-inflicted through promises made while seeking elections, he noted that most of them are put on them by others.

According to him, the legislators are at the mercy of the electorates from their constituencies, their state governors, the executive, the judiciary, and even their political parties, all of whom dictate their activities.

“I don’t know how many of you here have contested the election, but the moment you are named by the party as an aspirant, either through your own desire or by imposition, you become ‘Father Christmas’. You have to,” he said.

“From that point onwards, you solve all sorts of problems, you pay school fees, people who come with medical bills, with school fees, rent, everything. And God bless you, if you don’t respond positively, you try to say this is too early. They will tell you, they are not ready for this business.”

Mr Mark also noted the role of meddlesome state governors who control their political parties and decide who gets to contest for the legislature.

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He recalled pleading with a certain state governor to allow someone to contest for an election, and the governor said he was not going to.

“I begged one of the governors for one of my legislators to be given a return ticket. You know what he told me? He said, ‘I will not give him’. Because he’s in charge of the party at the state level. So if you want a return ticket, you are at the mercy of your governor. But if you are strong in your constituency, of course, you will not be able to influence it,” he narrated.

He also explained that lawmakers could be declared winners of an election and wouldn’t be able to relax for years into their four-year tenure, as the case of their seats being challenged remains in court and could be overturned anytime.

“And then I say that the mercy of their party, why? Because the party will call you from time to time, they ask you to do a few things. If you don’t do it, they say, ‘we won’t give you a ticket the next time around,” he added.