A member of the Cross River state House of Assembly, Hon. John Gaul Lebo, has explained why lawmakers that distinguished themselves in their respective legislatures in the three tiers of government should be allowed unspecified number of terms.
Lebo said such unspecified terms would stabilise democracy and create room for experience which, he said, was the bedrock of successful democracies the world over.
In an interview, he said since the legislature was the only arm of government in the country which had borne more of the brunt of military rule and, therefore, relatively unknown in the polity, legislators should be re-elected as many times as possible “so that they can stabilise the law making process and gain experience which successors can tap from.”
He advised the electorate to see the wisdom in re-electing their representatives “who are up and doing as this was the secret of the success of democracy in the US and other western countries given that the legislature, unlike other arms of government, has limitless term in office.”
He identified the problems of the country’s legislature to include “frequent change in representation; lack of institutional memory and archives; lack of institutionalised capacity training and poor funding.”
These challenges, he explained, affect law-making, hence government, at all levels, should address them.
