Democracy Day: Move for single 6-year term gets boost

Two state chairmen of the leading parties in Nigeria, All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River State, Barristers Alphonsu Eba and Venatius Ikem, respectively, have joined the clamour for a one term of six years for both state governors and president of Nigeria.

In separate but exclusive interviews on Thursday said to mark Democracy Day, they stressed that this will allow for calm and easy governance.

Both said it had become imperative for the authorities to now look at the option quickly.

The state ruling party chairman, Alphonsus Eba said, “I totally agree with the popular call for a single tenure of six years because it puts less pressure on the President and Governor with all the associated strain of re-election which is often cumbersome.”

On his part, Venatius Ikem, the PDP chairman, said there was no doubt that a one term proposal for the executive branch of government had become more imperative.

Ikem recalled that the calls have been there since the past several Constitutional Conferences, one of which he was a member in 2006, the Political Reform Conference.

“One wonders why the reform recommendation is still on the shelves,” he said.

Ikem said that the one term option had been tested with Vice Chancellors in Nigerian universities and it had worked and the acrimony towards a second term had been removed.