No third term clause in new constitution - Senate

Taiwo Adisa, Abuja - 05.02.2008

The Senate on Monday ruled out the possibility of the controversial third term clause featuring in the planned constitution amendment scheduled for this year.

Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin, who made the declaration in an interview in Abuja, said that the National Assembly had ruled out the possibility of bringing back the controversial third term saga which dealt a big blow to the attempt of the last National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution.

The constitution amendment process is billed to start next month. Senator Folarin said that Nigerians had demonstrated their opposition to tenure elongation plot embedded in the third term clause, adding that the National Assembly would not go outside the wishes of the people.

“We have to realize that politics is very dynamic, politics is very fluid. At the time it was an issue, I personally think it is not an issue now. It was very clear that the country does not want that, it will not make any sense to bring it back. That is my own view,” the Senate Leader said.