"I strongly believe a single term of five or six years for President and Governors, even if for a stipulated period as was the case with several Latin American democracies, is something Nigerians should revisit after the 2019 general elections. This will substantially reduce the political tensions and executive excesses that come with self-succession," he said.
Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, has described the current political situation in the country as an atmosphere featuring "brazen political excesses", which he said are unlikely to go away until after the 2019 elections.
He also restated his call for single-term tenures for public office holders to reduce the "political tensions and executive excesses that come with self-succession".
In a post on his Facebook page on Wednesday, entitled 'Still on the Single Term for Presidents and Governors', he cited examples of countries where the practice has worked.
"As is always the case, Nigeria’s political atmosphere is getting toxic ahead of the 2019 general election and governance is taking a backseat. Unfortunately, this atmosphere, with the accompanying brazen political excesses, are unlikely to abate until well after the 2019 general election," he aid.
"Unable to resist the temptations that come with enormous power of incumbency, those who call the shots today throw everything within their reach into the mix in desperate efforts to retain power at all cost and by all means. The feverish political climate in the country today, once again, justifies the call by some of us for a single term of five or six years for the President and Governors.
"Although a renewable four-year term is popular, societies are dynamic and it is up to us to make necessary constitutional adjustments to safeguard our democracy and make periods leading up to our elections less toxic."
According to him, single term tenure had been proposed in the past, but the peculiarities of the proposition was misunderstood, and so the idea didn't come to fruition.
He, however, called for the issue to be revisited after the 2019 elections.
He said: "In Nigeria's case we proposed a single term for the President and Governors with several transitional options during the constitution amendment exercise in the 7th National Assembly. Unfortunately, it was misunderstood by various political and sectional interests for various reasons and the proposal did not succeed.
"However, I strongly believe a single term of five or six years for President and Governors, even if for a stipulated period as was the case with several Latin American democracies, is something Nigerians should revisit after the 2019 general elections. This will substantially reduce the political tensions and executive excesses that come with self-succession."