Claim: Only Ghana and Nigeria have a four-year presidential tenure
Source: Prof H. Kwasi Prempeh, CRC chairman
Verdict: True
Researched by Alfa Shaban
The 2025 Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) inaugurated by President John Dramani Mahama, presented its final report to the president on December 22, 2025, proposing a raft of changes to the 1992 Constitution.
A number of these proposals have, however, dominated news coverage and analysis of the findings that were presented to the president. One proposal that has been widely debated is on extending the presidential term from the current four to five years.
Under point 1.2 under the heading: Term of Office of President: Length of a Term, the CRC proposed thus: “The Committee recommends an amendment to Article 66(1) to extend the length of a President’s term from four years to five years.”
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In a December 25, 2025, interview on Joy News to discuss the CRC’s report, chairman of the Committee, Prof Henry Kwasi Prempeh, spoke extensively about how and why the particular proposal was arrived at.
In his submission, he suggested that an extension will put Ghana on common ground with what has become the convention across much of West Africa, stressing that only Ghana and Nigeria were operating a four-year presidential tenure.
Reasons CRC chair advanced for the proposal
“We also gathered evidence that actually Ghana is among a dwindling number of countries that still do four years, especially new democracies and in Africa. In Africa, most (countries) do five (years). In our region, some do seven (like) Benin. Liberia does, I think, six.
“Nigeria and Ghana are the only ones who do four, you know, we and Nigeria are always marching together lockstep. So, we realized that the evidence we were gathering was that the global norm now has shifted from four to five in presidential systems and that in our own region, five is the norm.
“So we say since any number is arbitrary, then let’s be guided by comparative best practice. So if the world is moving towards five. Then maybe it makes sense. Five then makes a good number to actually use,” he said.
This report will ascertain:
- Whether Nigeria and Ghana are the only countries with four-year terms.
- Whether much of West Africa has gone above four years.
Fact-check
GhanaFact observed that only a few countries in the West African region have been quiet in terms of constitutional amendments. Majority of the countries have amended their constitutions to cap or extend their presidential terms.
Ghana, for example, has not amended the current constitution since 1992. The table below references major news reports on presidential terms and in some cases, government websites. The bulk of the references are from the database of the US-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).
| Country | Presidential term | Context |
| Benin | Two 7-year terms | 2025 amendment (takes effect after 2026 elections) |
| Burkina Faso | 5-year term | Last democratic president sworn in in 2020, country currently under military junta |
| Cape Verde | Two 5-year terms | Next election is slated for 2026. |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Two 5-year terms | Ouattara is serving final 5-year term after 2025 polls. |
| The Gambia | Unlimited 5-year terms | Elections are due in 2026. Read more about Gambia’s failed bids to cap presidency |
| Ghana | Two 4-year terms | Next elections due in 2028 |
| Guinea | Two 7-year terms | Operational from 2026 with President Doumbouya |
| Guinea-Bissau | Two 5-year terms | Constitution suspended after 2025 post-election coup |
| Liberia | Two 6-year terms | Current president sworn in in 2024 |
| Mali: | Five-year term before 2020 coup | Mali is currently under military rule (last president elected in 2018) |
| Mauritania | Two 5-year terms | |
| Niger | Two 5-year terms | Niger is currently under military rule (last president elected in 2021) |
| Nigeria | Two 4-year terms | Current president sworn in in 2023 |
| Senegal | Two 5-year terms | Current president sworn in in 2024 |
| Sierra Leone | Two 5-year terms | Current presidential term ends in 2026 |
| Togo | President of Council of Ministers has 6-year term, renewable indefinitely | Shift to parliamentary system. Last election was in 2020 for five-year term |
From the above, GhanaFact has gleaned the following:
- Ghana and Nigeria are the only West African countries with 4-year presidential terms.
- The only other Anglophone countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone, The Gambia have six, five, and five-year terms respectively.
- The highest term in the subregion is seven years for the Beninese president (after 2026 polls) and the incoming Guinean president.
- Majority of the countries in the region (six) have a five-year presidential term.
Verdict:
The claim that only Ghana and Nigeria have four-year presidential terms is rated true, also, that much of West Africa has moved past the four-year convention is true.
