Ekweremadu wants 6-yr single term for president, govs

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has said that Nigeria would understudy the Mexican presidential system with a view to benefitting from the single term for the president and the governors.

He stated this when he received the Mexican envoy to Nigeria, Ambassador Garcia Moreno Elizondo, who paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja on the fringes of the 57th independence anniversary celebration.

Ekweremadu said Nigeria and Mexico had a lot to learn from each other because they had a lot in common, such as vast territories as well as presidential and federal systems of government.

The lawmaker said: “Am aware that Mexico runs a six-year single term presidency known as the sexino. This is something Nigeria will be looking at because what we are doing now has a lot of difficulties.

“So, we are looking at a possibility of constitutional reform that can guarantee a single term so that the money we spend in running elections and the problem of chief executives struggling and concentrating to coming back, using resources and instruments of state can be overcome.

“We would like to hear more from you on how the single term works and whether it has been beneficial to your system so that we can also collaborate in that respect,” the deputy Senate president was quoted in a statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu.

He also observed that the states in Mexico had substantial autonomy and their respective constitutions, noting, “When we are talking about devolution of power and strengthening our federalism, Mexico is a place where we can look at.”

On his part, Ambassador Elizondo said Nigeria and Mexico had the common challenge of improving the wellbeing of their citizens, which he said could only be effectively addressed with political stability and very strong democratic institutions.