President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday expressed dismay over the manner in which his proposed six-year single tenure for every president in the country had been misconstrued by some persons who thought he wanted to extend his current tenure in office.
Jonathan, who stated this while receiving French foreign minister, Alain Juppe, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said democratic political stability had returned to Africa, although the major challenge still remained in parts of the continent, where incumbents stay in power beyond constitutional mandates, or insist on anointing their successors.
He said, “My proposal for a single six-year tenure is anchored on the need for an incumbent president to focus maximum attention on the execution of his development programmes, instead of expending vital energy on re-election issues, though this has been misunderstood to mean I want additional six years”.
Jonathan also claimed that much progress was being made across the continent, and said that Africa’s success stories should be encouraged.
He added that his administration was working hard to check terrorism and piracy, as part of efforts to provide a sustainable environment for trade and investments in the country.
He expressed appreciation to French president Nicolas Sarkozy for his consistent support and friendship to Nigeria and Africa, and added that Sarkozy’s “robust support and friendship,” had enabled Nigeria and ECOWAS to successfully restore peace in Cote d’Ivoire.
“We could not have succeeded in restoring peace in Cote d’Ivoire without President Sarkozy. The intervention in Cote D’Ivoire has also enabled stability and successful elections to be held in Liberia.”
Earlier, Juppe, who visited the Nigerian president as part of activities marking his visit to Nigeria,? said he held “very constructive” discussions with his Nigerian counterpart in the areas of agriculture, energy, aviation and mining.