APC, CNPP Blast Ekweremadu For Suggesting ‘Doctrine Of Necessity’ To Extend President, Govs Tenure Beyond 2015

Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday condemned the proposal for a single tenure for the president and governors by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, describing it as another form of tenure elongation.

Ekweremadu had while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Monday argued that extending the tenure of the President and Governors through the invocation of another doctrine of necessity, is the panacea to the over charged political atmosphere. He also argued that the move would lead to a significant reduction in the cost of conducting elections in the country.

“It could be a win-win situation for everybody”, Ekweremadu states, adding that “now, people have been elected for four years; now, 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, those who are now present occupants like the president and the governors, who are finishing their term, could now do another two years that will end in 2017”.

But the CNPP described the deputy senate president’s single-tenure statement as ‘treasonable’ and called on the Director General of State Security Service (SSS) and other relevant security agencies to urgently investigate Mr. Ekweremadu.

In a statement on Wednesday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, CNPP said that foisting the rejected seven-year single tenure through the back door of the Doctrine of Necessity will be a grave disservice to Nigeria, and portends more danger than the four year double tenure.

“CNPP had since Sunday, waited patiently for rebuttal as major national newspapers were awash with the senator’s treasonable statement to the effect that, ‘if we create a two-year gap, it creates a situation where the country would not be engulfed in a crisis…’, [but] no rebuttal came,” the statement said.

It noted that Ekweremadu further stated, “those fighting the president have hinged their complaint on the fact that if the president gets second term by the time they are gone, he would start to chase them….. and that the mistake we made in our recommendation is that we said the incumbent would not benefit”.

Concerning how the single tenure would be achieved, CNPP highlighted Ekweremadu’s suggestion of the “Doctrine of Necessity and some kind of jurisprudential approach, and some kind of transition of two years,” describing it as sheer criminal subversion of the highest order.

“Why ease out Mr President, instead of vote-in or vote-out?” It asked.

“CNPP is of the candid view that Nigeria has witnessed general elections, as imperfect as they were in 2003, 2007 and 2011 and heaven did not fall; therefore Senator Ekweremadu as a senior officer of the state owe us a duty to explain why the 2015 general elections will end up crisis”.

CNPP stated that it is calling call for the investigation of the Deputy Senate President because similar voices close to President Goodluck Jonathan, like Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo and Kingsley Kuku, have made similar statements that heavens will fall if Jonathan is not reelected in 2015.

Commenting on the issue, Interim National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said: “He (Ekweremadu) cannot be serious. We said it that the national confab is a diversionary tactics by President Goodluck Jonathan to get power in 2015.

“Now we have been proven right. This project will suffer the same fate as Obasanjo’s third term agenda.

“PDP has been in power for 14 years, yet they cannot clean their Augean stable and now they want two years; after two years, they will ask for six years. It will not work, they must go in 2015”, the APC spokesman insisted.