A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) national communications team, Kwadwo Poku, has alleged that some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government are seeking legal loopholes to enable President John Dramani Mahama to pursue a third term in office.

According to him, the ongoing legal challenges at the Supreme Court over the interpretation of the presidential term limit provisions of the 1992 Constitution are unnecessary because the provision is clear.

The cases before the Supreme Court seek an interpretation of whether the constitutional two-term limit applies only to consecutive terms or also covers non-consecutive presidential terms.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Tuesday, August 18, Mr Poku said the NPP was concerned about the possibility of attempts to create a pathway for President Mahama to seek another term.

“People keep coming back to the same question: Why does this story refuse to go away because there are sycophants within this government who are propping up all the resources to try and find a loophole for President Mahama to do a third term,” he said.

He argued that although President Mahama has not publicly expressed an intention to seek a third term, his statements on the matter have not expressly ruled it out.

Mr Poku said the NPP did not trust the Attorney General to adequately defend the constitutional term limit because the Attorney General also provides legal representation and advice to the government.

He said this was why the NPP had decided to join the legal action before the Supreme Court to defend what he described as the spirit of the Constitution.

“If the presidency is looking at the third tenure, we don’t trust the Attorney General to advise correctly. That is why we, the NPP, are joining the suit to go to the Supreme Court and defend this matter,” he said.

Mr Poku also urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the cases without a full hearing, arguing that the constitutional provision on presidential term limits contains no ambiguity requiring interpretation.

He further said the country should focus on pressing national challenges, including illegal mining, rather than a debate over a possible third presidential term.

The NPP communicator cited experiences in other African countries where presidents had found ways around term limits and warned that Ghana should not assume such a development could not occur.