The retired Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Reverend Abiodun Adetiloye, has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to drop the proposed single term of six years for president and governors in the country.
He also warned the federal government against granting amnesty to the militant Islamic sect, Boko Haram and said that granting amnesty to such an organisation could portray the nation in bad light.
Adetiloye maintained that the present four-year term which was renewable once was the best for elected chief executives and an opportunity for the electorate to reject political office holders who performed poorly if they wanted a re-election.
Speaking with journalists yesterday in his hometown of Odo-Owa in Ijero local government area of the state, Adetiloye said that a renewable tenure of four years would keep elected president and governors on their toes to live up to expectation ahead of the next election.
The cleric, who commended Jonathan for offering not to benefit from the proposed six-year single term if it sailed through legislative scrutiny argued that reworking the Constitution to accommodate the new proposal would deprive Nigerians of good leadership.
The former Anglican primate said a six-year single term would constitute what he called a “serious impediment” to the desire of citizens who were willing to reward a performing president and governors with fresh terms of office to continue with good performance.
He said, “If a governor emerged on the platform of a political party, because of the fear that he will seek re-election one day, he will sit very well and serve the people with utmost fear.
“Even, the political party that produced such governor and president will be careful and this will make them to pile pressure of such elected official to deliver.”
“We thank God now that we are having fairly credible election, so with a renewable tenure, all the political parties we realise that the only way they can dominate a state or the country is by performing well for them to win future elections.”
Counseling the federal government on how to tame the Boko Haram insurgency, Adetiloye called for arrest and prosecution of sponsors and militants of the group stressing; “no serious nation will treat such a terror group with kid gloves”.
He added, “They should rather be apprehended and prosecuted other than this amnesty thing, so that those who are being wooed into the group will think twice because they will know they are being called to join an evil organisation.”