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Nigeria: Third Term: Oyegun, Sagay, Rimi, Others Rise Against Mantu's Tenure Extension (Page 1 of 2)
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Vanguard (Lagos)
March 11, 2006
Posted to the web March 12, 2006
Bolade Omonijo, Chioma Anyagafu And Paul Odili
HEAVYWEIGHT politicians and other notable Nigerians, yesterday, stoutly rose against Thursday's decision by the Constitution Review Committee on the 1999 Constitution to extend the two-year tenure of executive office holders at the federal and state levels.
The Committee, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu had given elected officers at those levels the opportunity of holding office for three terms of four years each.
Sections 137 and 182 of the Constitution grant the President and governors a maximum of two terms in office but, by the decision of the Mantu Committee, an executive office holder could now be in office for a maximum of three terms if the proposal scales through at the two chambers of the National Assembly as well as the 36 State Assemblies.
In his reaction yesterday, fiery Kano politician, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi described the action of the committee as treasonable and illegal.
According to him: "It is wrong. It is illegal and unconstitutional. They are imposing their personal views on the National Assembly, thereby committing treason because they are changing the constitution without following the constitutional provision.
"They merely chose to satisfy the narrow-mindedness of a few in position of authority, but I assure you the people will reject it. God will reject it."
Speaking in similar vein, Second Republic governor of Borno State, Alhaji Mohammed Goni described the committee's decision as "woeful disappointment." He said: "That is terrible and unacceptable. It is very bad for the whole country."
Asked what hope there is for the decision to be reversed, Alhaji Goni said: "We have to shout to the National Assembly. The House of Representatives has already shown how stoutly they are against it. It is illegal, clearly illegal to ask Obasanjo to continue beyond 2007."
Alhaji Goni pointed out that if the decision is sustained, it would make nonsense of the rotation arrangement and thus affect the convenience of the country. "It has grave implication for the stability of the country."
The former Borno State governor who said he personally attended the public hearing in Maiduguri and monitored developments in other centres alleged that the people's will had been subverted "because majority of the people rejected even the idea of amending the constitution now."
Second Republic Senator, Alhaji Sikiru Shitta-Bay, former Edo State Governor, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, PDP chieftain, Alhaji Iro dan-Musa and Lt. Gen. Jerry Useni (Rtd) were among other leading politicians who rejected the decision and described it as retrogressive.
While Alhaji Shitta-Bay strongly denounced the decision as a product of manipulated process, Gen. Useni took solace in the fact that it had only been passed at the committee level. The ANPP Board of Trustees leader said: "It still has a long way to go and would still be debated by the two houses. Until that is done, nothing has been said. It holds no water."
Alhaji Dan Musa who got involved in politics in the Second Republic and was until recently a National Vice Chairman of the PDP wondered how proponents of the third term agenda hope to cross the remaining hurdles. He asked: "What are the provisions? I need to know what the provisions are all about. How would they go about it? Otherwise, I don't really understand it."
Earlier on Thursday, Lagos lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) described the decision of the Mantu-led committee as "the first step towards derailing democracy in our country." He added: "It cannot work, and cannot be accepted by Nigerians. In our history of political parties, it has not happened, not in 1979, not in 1983 and not in 1999."What the committee did was unconstitutional, immoral, indecent and cannot be accepted. It won't work, it can't work."
In his own reaction, chieftain of the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD), Alhaji Lawal Kaita said the development was no surprise. "What else did you expect? We're not surprised by what happened. We knew what would happen before now. But it has to pass through the two chambers of the National Assembly. That's the deciding factor."
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Also, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Alhaji Isyaku Ibrahim toed Kaita's line. "It's no surprise. But we also know that many members of that committee don't believe in that report. Let's wait for it to come to the floor of the National Assembly. Then, we will know those who believe in democracy.
"I am appealing t the young generation not to allow my generation to ruin this country for you. I believe that when the report comes to the floor of the National Assembly, your generation will be able to resist the deceit of my generation by rejecting that report."
From the club of human rights activists, Shehu Sani from Kaduna and Nankin Bagudu based in Jos thundered that the decisions were simply unacceptable.
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