A claim suggesting that former President John Mahama could be pushed to seek an unconstitutional third term has unsettled senior figures within the National Democratic Congress (NDC), prompting swift rebuttals from the party’s top hierarchy.
The controversy began when the leader of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga, stated on the JoyNews AM Show that he would support any move for Mahama to pursue a third-term bid if the NDC “imposed” such a decision on him.
His comments immediately triggered fears within the party’s leadership, with National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia issuing a strongly worded statement dismissing the suggestion as false, misleading, and dangerous.
According to him, the NDC “has never contemplated, discussed, nor entertained” any move aimed at extending Mahama’s eligibility beyond the constitutionally mandated two-term limit.
Despite the official denial, information intercepted by this paper suggests that quiet consultations are ongoing within influential political and institutional circles aimed at exploring potential pathways for a third-term push through the Judiciary and the Majority caucus in Parliament, with the Speaker also expected to play a pivotal role.
What remains unclear, however, is how any such strategy would circumvent the entrenched provisions of the 1992 Constitution, which explicitly require a national referendum to alter presidential term limits.
As the political intrigue deepens, Ghanaians keenly await what many expect to become one of the most dramatic constitutional debates in the Fourth Republic.
