An influential group of Nigerian MPs has voted in favour of changing the constitution to allow presidents to run for a third term in office.
The recommendation by a committee of both houses of parliament is a major step towards allowing President Olusegun Obasanjo to stand again.
Parliamentarians are expected to decide on the issue by the end of March.
But the BBC’s Alex Last says there is fierce opposition on the issue, which has divided opinion in the country.
The president has not said himself if he intends to stand again but there is intense speculation he will.
Oil demands
Its supporters say the vote was based on the outcome of recent public hearings held for two days in six towns around the country.
Opponents say that with a population of around 120 million people, the official public hearings were restrictive and hardly representative.
Another key issue endorsed by the committee was that the share of oil revenues going to oil-producing areas of Nigeria should be increased.
But our correspondent in Lagos says the proposed increase is short of what both politicians and militant groups in the Niger Delta had been demanding.
Two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly would need to agree to each of the more than 100 proposed constitutional changes for them to become law.
Thereafter the changes need the approval of 24 of Nigeria’s 36 state parliaments. |
