Third Term
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Thursday night called on those goading President Olu-segun Obasanjo to make a public declaration on his stand on third term to wait till the outcome of the on-going constitutional review exercise.
The party, which spoke through its National Secretary, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, during an interactive dinner with newsmen, charged those who have made third term a political issue to concentrate on how to achieve stateness for the nation.
Restating that the anti-third term campaign is a distraction to the reform programmes of Obasanjo’s administration, the former Transport Minister, however, said that Mr. President will remain focus while other
agencies of government will continue to perform their responsibilities.
“His (Obasanjo’s) leaving (in 2007) is not the problem. He can leave. I don’t know what’s on his mind and we don’t know what will come out of the constitutional review. He will tell us what he wants to do after the constitution review process,” he said.
He described the hoopla over the third term plot as “distraction not just to those in government” adding that “we should go beyond who will be there in 2007 and address the issue of stateness and set the agenda for whoever will be in power and then determine who will be President based on how the candidate fits into these objectives.”
According to him, those aspiring to leadership need not make it “a do or die affair” if their objective is to render services to the people even as he urged Nigerians “to step back and look at the history of the nation.
“Is it in the national interest that one issue, tenure extension, should wear us down in terms of quality of polity? Is it not time to deal with the pathology of this third term flu and move on? Those making big issue (out of third term) should ask themselves; how does it serve the national interest?,” Maduekwe further asked.
Noting that both the proponents and opponents of third term are concerned about the future of Nigeria, he added; “maybe the concern is assuming the position of crisis on succession but people should ask if crisis of succession is a crisis of nation-state.
“What do we ought to do that have not done to enhance the attributes of a nation state. I’m making a distinction between stateness and statehood.
“Nigeria is a weak state in attribute of stateness. There is the need to move from this position to a medium strong state and climb to a very strong state.
“In a place where the attitude of stateness has not evolved that is where somebody is killed in Maiduguri over a cartoon riot that happened in Denmark.
“Unless we address this (stateness), Obasanjo could as well leave in 2007 even if the constitution allows him to contest (for third term) and yet we will still grapple with the problem we are talking about,” Maduekwe said.
Meanwhile, the Presidency has assured that it would not manipulate the outcome of public hearings held penultimate Wednesday and Thursday in each of the six geo-political zones in the country to recommend a third term in office for President Olusegun Obasanjo.
As the National Assembly Joint Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, moves to Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital to collate the outcome of the public hearings and compile its report, there were fears that its proceedings may be manipulated to arrive at third term for the president.
But the Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, told THISDAY in a telephone interview last night that such insinuation was vicious and pernicious.
"The President does not indulge in such antics and neither does he needs to do so. The process of constitutional amendment is very clear and it has been very open and very transparent. The members of the National and state houses of assembly are men and women of honour, integrity and decency.
"Between them and us, there is absolutely no intention to deceive, manipulate or teleguide the process of constitutional reforms. Mr. President is not a 419 President. He is a man of honour and believes in due process and the rule of law. At the end of the day, when it comes to constitutional review process, it is the will of the people and not the will of those peddling lies about the process that will prevail," he said.
The clamour for an extension of both the president and governors' tenure in office began like a trial balloon meant to gauge the possible reaction of the populace. Soon, it gained crescendo and evolved from being just a tongue-in-cheek opinion of an individual into a bold and somewhat desperate campaign. The first clear signal that it was by no means a project that would be swamped soon emerged during the National Political Reform Conference when delegates discovered that a surreptitiously introduced Draft Constitution was circulating at the venue of the conference.
It wasn't long before the source of those documents was uncovered. Accepting responsibility, the president's Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Professor Jerry Gana, explained that President Olusegun Obasanjo's intention was for the documents to be included among other working documents at the conference. That attempt failed thanks to the strong resolve of the delegates to reject its inclusion.
But desperation breeds all kinds of subterfuge. Despite rising public outrage over the subject of tenure extension, a proposal to that effect was smartly tucked into The Senate's draft review of the constitution. No one seem to know how that task was accomplished. The Senate's media committee has, however, promised to unravel the mystery. But it did not in anyway detract from the enthusiasm shown so far by the National Assembly' joint committee on constitution review led by Ibrahim Mantu. Glimpses from the committee's review tours sufficiently show that the project is indeed real and, of course, supposed beneficiary is not particularly disinterested.