ABUJA (AFP) ? Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said he planned legislation to limit the head of state to one term of office with a longer timeframe, but pledged he would not benefit from such a law.
The president's advisers have long talked of such a proposal, arguing a single term for a longer period better suits Africa's most populous nation, where rioting killed some 800 people following April elections.
The current laws allow a president to serve two four-year terms.
Jonathan "is to send a constitution amendment bill to the National Assembly that will provide a single tenure for the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria," a statement from his office said.
Governors of the country's 36 states would also serve only one term under the bill, it said.
"The tenure of members of the national and state assemblies will also be a little more than four years, although lawmakers will still be eligible for re-election as their constituencies may determine," the statement said.
But while Jonathan, who has reportedly pledged in private to serve only one term of office, said such a law would not benefit him, details on the proposal remained unclear, including the timeframe for a single term.
"If the proposed amendment is accepted by the National Assembly, the president assures that he will not in any way be a beneficiary," the statement said.
As word leaked out in recent weeks of the planned legislation, some questioned whether the move was meant to lengthen Jonathan's current term.
The statement said Jonathan "is concerned about the acrimony which the issue of re-election, every four years, generates both at the federal and state levels."
"The nation is still smarting from the unrest, the desperation for power and the overheating of the polity that has attended each general election," it said.
Jonathan first came to power in May 2010 following the death of his predecessor, Umaru Yar'Adua, before winning elections in April.
He reportedly pledged in private to serve only one term of office as part of negotiations with northern politicians from his own party opposed to his candidacy.
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