by Oke Efagene

Some state chief executives have dissociated themselves from the controversial proposal of a 6-year single term for the president and governors.

The segregation came up a few days after deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, revisited the proposal.

In their opinion, Ekweremadu was acting alone, even though they conceded that the idea was sold to them.

Leadership reports:

Even President Goodluck Jonathan who has openly canvassed a single term of six years for the president and governors has also distanced himself from the proposal.

It was learnt that the proposal by Ekweremadu was masterminded by a top shot in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Some governors elected on the party’s platform told our correspondent that they would not support it.

“The idea was first sold to some of us in the heat of the PDP crisis and agitation against Mr President’s alleged bid to seek re-election in 2015,” a governor confirmed.    

He stated that they objected to the idea based on their believe that if carvassed it will only overheat the polity the more.

The single-tenure proposal, first muted by President Jonathan, met nationwide criticism while the Senate shot it down during its debate on amendments to the 1999 Constitution.     

The proponents of the six-year single term allegedly want to use it to give Jonathan a soft landing following stiff opposition to his rumoured second-term bid, which has fuelled the current crisis in the PDP.

It was further learnt that if the option is adopted, the supporters of the move believe that it will make the president’s opponents, especially the governors, sheathe their swords, as it would indirectly prevent Jonathan from seeking re-election in 2015.

This is in line with Ekweremadu’s views when he suggested the invocation of another doctrine of necessity for the extension of the term of President Jonathan and all the serving governors for the realisation of a single term.

Ekweremadu, who for the second legislative session running has been the chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, said: “We believe strongly that that matter is something that could be revisited.

But I think the mistake we made in our recommendation was when we said incumbents would not benefit from it, and I think there was then some kind of coalition of forces to defeat it.

“Yes, I believe that if the players in the polity, that is, the stakeholders, are able to come together, I believe strongly that it is one way to deal with the situation. It could be a win-win situation for everybody.

“Now people have been elected for four years; let everybody complete the four-year tenure for which they have been elected and we can, through the doctrine of necessity, do some kind of transition of two years, in which case the present occupants like the president and the governors who are finishing their term could do another two years that will end in 2017.

“You see, some of those who are fighting the president, I hear that their complaint is that if the president gets a second term when they are gone that they may start chasing them.

If we agree that that could be a way to solving the problem, after two years both the president and the other governors will exit and the fear will not be there, and I believe it will bring down the temperature of politics.”

Another reason why the governors are allegedly averse to the six-year single term is because of their interest in the Senate and if the arrangement sails through, they (the governors) might wait till 2019 to realise their ambition.

According to one of the governors, in between the two-year transition period and when the election would be held in 2019, many things might happen in the polity which could affect their chances of clinching the senatorial seats.

“You know, in politics, you don’t wait for too long. It’s better we participate in the 2015 elections rather than wait. I can assure you that we will reject the proposal roundly,” he said.

President Jonathan said it was not his business to tell the National Assembly what to do. His adviser on political matters, Ahmed Gulak, said it was baseless for people to link Ekweremadu’s suggestion to desperation on the part of the president.

“The presidency is not part of the National Assembly and will not tell it what to do and what not to do. The NASS is an independent constitutional body with its duties well spelt out in the constitution.

The president knows nothing about the said proposal; the allegation of his being desperate is baseless,” he said.    

A pro-Jonathan governor said that, before Ekweremadu’s fresh position on the matter, a chieftain of the PDP had suggested the idea at a meeting with some governors but it was rejected on the grounds that it could further overheat the polity, adding that “as governors, we are not ready to support it”.

But investigations reveal that the governors are against the move because most of them are eyeing senatorial seats in 2015.