Senators and Reps should be allowed for 12 years says Umahi

The Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has said senators and members of the House of Representatives should be given a fixed three-term tenure of 12 years to save the cost of educating new entrants into the assembly on legislative processes.

He also suggested an age limit of 70 years for lawmakers in the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly.

The governor made the suggestions during an interview on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast show on Channels Television, on Wednesday.

Umahi, who is a Senator-elect representing Ebonyi East Senatorial District in the 10th National Assembly, was addressing the issue of the cost of training legislators.

He argued that tenures of legislators should also be fixed, especially when they have not performed to the satisfaction of their constituents.

The tenures of the executives are fixed, the tenures of the legislators are not fixed. And you have to ask yourself, have we really benefited by not fixing the tenures of legislators?

“You have to be able to show that they (constituents) are part of that government by allowing projects, even the projects of the Federal Government. It could be done in the name of the Federal Government by that legislator that is representing that comstituency. And when they don’t see anything, that’s how they vote another person. And you know our country, they love change, they love change so much. But there is nobody that is perfect in the ways of doing things.

“But I will suggest strongly that the tenures of legislators should be fixed, and there should be also age limits for legislators. You can give them three tenures, three tenures of four years. Age limit of 70 years will be good.”

Umahi also disagreed with the notion that the National Assembly serves as a retirement home for governors, arguing that, “It’s a place that they want to put the experiences they acquired over the years in the governance of their states to move the nation forward.”

Punch.