As criticisms continue to trail his plan to send a constitution amendment bill to the National Assembly to propose one-term tenure for the president and governors, President Goodluck Jonathan has denied that he originated the idea.
He said those insinuating that he was planning to extend his four-year tenure beyond May 29, 2015 were off the mark, blaming the people he consulted over the one-term proposal for leaking the information to the press prematurely.
The President was speaking at the 56th National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Abuja Thursday.
Opposition parties, particularly the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) had reacted angrily to the proposal, saying it was an attempt by Jonathan to stay longer in power.
Jonathan said the idea of a single, longer term was that of the Committee of Inter Party Relations which he chaired between 2008 and 2009 as Vice-President.
He explained that parties, with the exception of ACN, proposed one-term limit in their memoranda.
He said: “There is a brief comment I want to make on this so-called single tenure. I wouldn’t have loved to but probably, it is becoming so topical in the papers. Most of the papers carried it today (yesterday) and when things happen, they do take it to a different direction.
According to the President, “Since we are meeting here as the NEC of the party, it is probably proper to clarify some of these issues so that it will not be misunderstood. It is me that asked some few people whether a single tenure will be a better option than a double tenure.
"Before I take any decision, I ask people. But that is not the end of consultation. It is a major [link in the] chain. So, before I can even send such a bill to the National Assembly, I will consult with the governors because any constitutional amendment involves the states and if they are not on the same page with you, there is no way such an amendment can easily sail through.
“So, I have not even discussed with the governors. I have never. Though as individuals, probably I have mentioned to one or two. Even the leadership of the party and the National Assembly, I might have mentioned to one or two persons, but not the formal group consultation. I have not done that level of consultation.
“But, why should the story come up? Of course, I asked one or two people about this and I felt that it was a good idea. So, the issue was leaked to the press and instead of talking about whether a single tenure is good or not, people were rather pinning it to extension of tenure.
And people were holding meetings [against it]. When we got to know that people were holding meetings, we said no, no, no, clarify this. Nobody should hold meeting about elongation of tenure. It has nothing to do with elongation of tenure. The tenure of Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo will end on 29th May, 2015. That is the constitution.”
Jonathan said a clarification was issued on Tuesday so that nobody would think he was planning to stay beyond May 29, 2015.
But the clarification seems to have compounded the issue, he said, even though the idea of a single term had been in the pipeline before he became president.
He continued: “Some of you will remember that in 2008/2009 when we (Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Jonathan) came on board, the feeling that the election was poorly done was so dramatised both within and outside the country that people felt elections were not properly conducted.
“I feel personally insulted whenever I travelled abroad to hold meetings and people came to take issues as if it was a stolen mandate. I used to tell people around me that no Nigerian President or Vice-President would like to go out and get insulted. So, if I have the opportunity to oversee elections, elections must be credible so that people will accept us anywhere.
“Because of those challenges, the late President set up the Justice Uwais Committee to look into the electoral reform and so on. He also asked all the parties to come together and form a team so that all the parties would submit a common position. And he asked me then, as vice-president, to chair the inter-party committee to come up with a common memorandum to the Justice Uwais Committee.

na his wife bring the idea oooo