LEGISREPORTS NG – The recent recommendation by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review proposing a single six year term for the President, Governors and their deputies as contained in its report presented to the upper chamber last week Wednesday, was intended to position Senate President David Mark for the Presidency in 2015, LEGISREPORTS can authoritatively reveal.

The new tenure arrangement going by permutations and calculations when passed into law by the National Assembly automatically disqualifies President Goodluck Jonathan who is also angling for a comeback in 2015.

Also, thirteen state Governors are to be affected under the new tenure system.

Those who are marked out to be affected by the new arrangement provided in the recommendations of the committee’s report are governors of Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Kwarra, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo, Zamfara, Gombe, Imo, Borno, Kaduna and Kogi states respectively.

LEGISREPORTS investigations revealed that the Senate President, Senator David Mark, alongside some very close colleagues who are also serving Senators in the Seventh National Assembly have already swung in action executing a very complex script that would see each one compensated politically from the new tenure arrangement.

Mark’s cronies LEGISREPORTS gathered going by the arrangement on ground, would replace the affected Governors whose deputies are also shut out from contesting to replace their outgoing bosses.

Contrary to insinuations which suggested that the Senate President and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu differed at times on issues during the course of the amendment of the constitution by the Review Committee, it was in fact discovered that same was merely a ploy to distract keen observers from thinking the process was under the manipulation of the leadership of the upper chamber.

The Senate it was also learnt decided to pave the path for David Mark in 2015 to contest as President owing to his leadership qualities.

Even stunning was that further investigations by LEGISREPORTS revealed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been intimated on the development, and in a typically military style, all aboard the boat to endorse Mark are simply waiting until the last minute to deliver the one shocker Nigerians least expect.

The reason for Obasanjo’s preference for Mark obviously goes beyond the common tie both shared as Military men, which as well explains his growing loath for President Jonathan whom he long ago lost confidence in.

Though smooth the Mark script seems to be going for now, marksmen for President Jonathan within the PDP are on the flanks aiming carefully and quietly to make a hit on the ambition of the Senate President whom is being considered a major threat to the President’s ambition.

A source well placed in the PDP heirachy at the National level disclosed to LEGISREPORTS that some elderstatesmen in the party were aware of Senator Mark’s move but were yet to digest the facts available at the moment to get him in the right spot needed for counter-action.

The source said, “we know what has been going on, but you see with politics, it is all about calculation and action. Both must be done accurately and properly if you understand what I mean.

“While he is using his position which is privileged opportunity to realise his ambitions, there are those who also would use proper timing and good politicking to frustrate it. Afterall, politics is a game and whoever wins wears the crown. For now, he hasn’t done anything out of place.

“It is unfortunate politics is practiced the way it is in Nigeria. If anyone has an ambition, let him try to realise it if he can. But I assure you, those of us on Jonathan’s side would not go down without a very very fierce fight.”

To corroborate our investigations, only on Thursday last week, the Senate sent clear signals to President Jonathan to forget about the presidency in 2015.

While briefing newsmen in Abuja, Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Senator Ike Ekweremadu had said, “Those already serving should make sacrifices and excuse themselves from the system.”

According to our source, the moves by the Senate President to always want to be an intermediary whenever things went awry for the President was a dead giveaway to the fact that he indeed nurses an ambition.

“It is clear he may be nursing an ambition to run for President, because I rememebr he stepped in when there was nationwide strike last year January during the subsidy protest. Now again, he’s trying to do so with Amaechi. Is he trying to say some of us in the PDP lack this interventionist ability?” he said.

The source said the Senator Mark’s moves were already in the know to the PDP, one that explains why he was rebuffed when he sent a delegation to attempt to reconcile President Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Prior to the departure of the delegation, Senate President David Mark last month ina meeting of the Senate PDP caucus mandated a special committee led by Ekweremadu to reconcile the crisis within PDP Governors in the country.

The Ekweremadu committee it was learnt visited Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where they met with Amaechi, and later, Akwa-Ibom state Governor, Godswill Akpabio who is the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

All attempt to reconcile both parties fell on deaf ears as the latter saw no reason for reconciliation.

It was further gathered that moves by the Senate President to continue the initial failed reconciliation attempt by the Senate PDP delegation through approaching the President was again thwarted by the PDP who felt otherwise that same want necessary.

With the Party beginning to resist the romantic advance and overtures of Senator Mark, another source in the Presidency told LEGISREPORTS that the Senate President may be up against difficult times ahead.

“The signs are there that the President knows what he is doing since he listens to the advise of those at the helm of affairs in the PDP. Since he is well guided, there wouldn’t be much trouble outwitting anyone who intends doing so to him,” he said.



This report was prepared by our Political Editor

SOURCE:http://legisreportsng.com/exclusive-the-real-deal-behind-single-six-year-term-as-senate-positions-mark-for-2015/

Must the Military always rule Nigeria directly or in directly?

Must you misled people?

Implementation starts 2019.

Try and read the full report of the recommendation.