Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has disclosed plans to sponsor a bill seeking to introduce a single six-year tenure for presidents and governors after the 2027 general elections.

Bamidele said the proposed legislation would be among the first bills he intends to introduce when the next Senate is inaugurated, arguing that it would enable elected leaders to focus on governance rather than re-election campaigns.

Speaking during an interview with reporters in his office on Tuesday, the lawmaker said the current two-term arrangement often compels officeholders to devote a significant portion of their first term to political calculations and preparations for re-election.

“One of the first set of bills that I look forward to moving, by God’s grace, when we come back for the 11th Senate, God willing, is for a bill that will only make it possible for anyone who wants to be president of this country, or governor in any part of this country, to spend only one term of six years,” he said.

According to him, a single tenure would eliminate distractions associated with seeking a second term.

“So that you don’t even have to worry about wasting almost one and a half years of your first term thinking and struggling and looking forward to how you’ll be re-elected,” Bamidele said.

“If you know you are there for six years, only one tenure, you put in your best from day one. You know this is the only chance that you have.”

The Senate Leader acknowledged that the proposal may not enjoy universal support but maintained that lawmakers have a responsibility to initiate reforms they believe would strengthen governance.

“That’s my opinion. It doesn’t mean everybody will agree with me. But it also does not mean that I am prevented from doing that because that has not been the law,” he said.

Bamidele stressed that laws are meant to evolve in response to changing realities and public needs.

“The essence of law, the essence of parliament, is that laws are like human beings; they grow,” he added.

The proposal, if formally introduced and passed by the National Assembly, would require constitutional amendments before it can take effect.

Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Gumi Ahmad, has broken his silence on his visitation to Ibadan late last year, amidst outrage that he was trying to Islamise Oyo State with some Northern ideologies and tenets.

Gumi stressed that nobody can stop him from visiting anywhere in the country, while maintaining that he was not invited by any Muslim group or individual in the South-West.

In a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, he said he was in Ibadan as a representative of northern Islamic scholars.

He made this known barely a day after one of the victims of the abduction in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State dismissed claims that their abductors demanded the implementation of Sharia law in the state as part of the conditions for releasing the victims.

PUNCH Online reports that the principal of Community High School, Esiele, Oyo State, Mrs Rachael Alamu, while speaking from captivity in a now-viral video, said the gunmen said they never demanded the introduction of Sharia law or a N1 billion ransom as reported in some quarters, but rather for the release of their associates currently in the custody of Nigerian authorities.

Also, the Muslim Rights Concern rejected the alleged demand for Sharia in a statement issued on Monday, describing the report as “a lie from the pit of Jahannam (hell)”.

MURIC argued that the so-called demand was inserted by enemies of Islam in the negotiation team to tarnish the image of Islam.

However, aligning with the Islamic group’s position, Gumi wrote, “I quite understand now how Islamophobia is shaping politics in SW (South-West) and why I was unnecessarily dragged into their dirty local politics.

“I was in Ibadan, not by the invitation of any SW Muslim individual or group, but as a representative of the Coalition of Northern Muslim Ulama.

“Can anybody stop me from going anywhere in Nigeria?”

Recall that Gumi visited Ibadan on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, where he served as a special guest and speaker at the Southern Nigerian Ulama Summit.

The event took place at the University of Ibadan.

During his visit, he also attended a courtesy session alongside other prominent Southern and Northern Muslim scholars.