Single term tenure is the solution to Nigeria’s political crisis – Ekweremadu















As the 2015 ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan continues to generate public debates, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has said that the adoption of a single term for political office holders was the answer to the incessant political crisis in the country.
In an interview with Journalists in Lagos on Saturday, Ekweremadu, who is also the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution was certain that political crisis would be over as soon as single tenure system was adopted.
The Deputy Senate President was in Lagos to brief the media on the work done so far regarding the amendment of the nation’s constitution.
He lamented that the failure of the nation to seize the opportunity offered by the committee during its public sittings was quite unfortunate, explaining that countries all over the world have used such opportunities for political reform, citing example of Latin American’s case.
Ekweremadu said, “When the matter came up at the level of our committee, we were mindful of the political atmosphere. We also tried to draw inspiration from what happened in other jurisdictions, especially within the Latin America in the 1970s.
“So, they decided to amend their constitution at that time to create a single term tenure in many of those countries in order to stabilize their democracy. And it was for a transition period. Now most of them are amending their constitution to go back to two terms, after they had stabilised the system.
“So, we felt it was something we could recommend to our country. And if you look at what is going on now, all the problem we are having in Nigeria, the New PDP, the APC, and all that, they are all issues of succession. And I believe that the matter is something that could be revisited.”
Ekweremadu added that “Let everybody complete the four-year tenure for which he or she has been elected. Then we can, through the Doctrine of Necessity do some kind of a transition of two years.
“In which case, those who are now the present occupants like the President and the governors will now do maybe another two years that will end in 2017.”
He was of the opinion that National Assembly elections should be held in 2015 while elections into executive positions should be conducted in 2017.
Arguing out his point , he said such would give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) enough time to prepare for the presidential and governorship elections.

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