Waku: Six-Year Single Term Is Certificate To Loot Nation Blind

One of the founding fathers of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Joseph Waku has said the proposed six-year single term for president-elect is a certificate to steal and loot the country’s resources, including stealing all the bedsheets in Aso Rock within the tenure in office.
Waku, who represented Benue North/West Senatorial District between 1999 and 2003, told Daily Sun in an exclusive interview that the single term would also make the senators to tolerate a corrupt president since they would be party to stealing and looting.
He added that since the single term would not give the president the opportunity to go back to the electorate for re-election, the electorates would be denied the chance to checkmate such erring president who did not perform in his first term.
Waku said: “Many Nigerians have this view to express on six-year single term for the president, and the view is that it is very dangerous for any country, particularly in a country that corruption is being celebrated, when you give somebody one term in office, you are giving him an absolute stealing certificate to steal to the maximum.
“He cannot get another opportunity to go back to the electorate for re-election, and by so doing you have done injustice to the electorate because you denied them the opportunity to checkmate such erring president who did not perform in his first term.
“Nigeria is not yet matured for six-year single term arrangement. It may sound that it will reduce the tension of our politicking, it will not, it will rather heat the corruption mechanism in a manner that you cannot control.
“We have not yet put in place the instrument at the National Assembly to remove a corrupt president, so you are giving that man a certificate to steal, as soon as he gets to that office, he is not accountable to you any more, he is not going to seek your re-election any more, if he is not God-fearing man, may God help us, the man will steal, including the bed sheets in the villa, and he will take everything away, and you will not have anything to say because he is not going to seek for any re-election again. Nigerians have a prize to pay.
“So I reject that clause in as much as it may sound brilliant. You cannot manufacture instruments of stealing, and even if you will bring an angel, there is so much temptation.”