7-yr single term: I was misunderstood – Jonathan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan regrets that his proposed seven-year single tenure for the president was widely misunderstood to mean self ambition to remain in power.

According to him, the proposal has been misunderstood by those who think he wants to add that term to his current one

Jonathan was speaking to Mr. Alain Juppe, French Foreign Minister, who visited the State House, as part of the activities of his visit to Nigeria.

“My proposal for a single seven-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 seven years”, the president clarified.

He noted that political stability has returned to Africa, although in some African countries the major challenge remained the attempt by the incumbents to stay in power beyond constitutional mandates, or to insist on anointing their successors. While deploring this, Jonathan pointed out that much progress is being made across the continent, and that Africa’s success stories should be encouraged.

He expressed appreciation to French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his consistent support and friendship to Nigeria and Africa, adding 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’s support”, he stated, adding that the intervention in Cote D’Ivoire has also enabled stability and successful elections to be held in Liberia.

Jonathan told Juppe that his administration is working hard to check terrorism and piracy, as part of efforts to provide a sustainable environment for trade and investments in the country, and appealed for French support to check this menace.

Earlier, the French Foreign Minister said he held “very constructive” discussions with his Nigerian counterpart in the areas of agriculture, energy, aviation and mining.

He said France is committed to supporting and ensuring development in Africa, though there are concerns about political and economic stability as well as piracy and terrorist activities in some parts of the continent.