Bolade Omonijo, Chioma Anyagafu And Paul Odili
11 March 2006
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."
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.
Said Sani: "I think it is simply adding hurdles. It's just a committee recommendation. It would go to a larger house and the states assemblies. I think it would be rejected by the National Assembly."
Bagudu described the public hearing which led to a committee's recommendations as a mere charade.
His words: It's a shocker to all of us. They have merely confirmed our fears. I was in Lafia for the public hearing and I saw how the process was manipulated. I saw how they brought up emergency NGOs to submit pro-third term memoranda. They also prevented genuine NGOs from submitting theirs."
Prominent lawyers also spoke on the development. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo described the procedure adopted as unconstitutional. He pointed out that since there was no bill for the amendment of the constitution, the public hearings and decisions taken so far are illegal.
His words: "I'm actually surprised because there is no bill for the amendment of the constitution before the National Assembly. Under the 1999 constitution, such amendments would first be a bill seeking to amend the constitution."
Mr. Oyetibo said that he suspected that the President might leave after all. "It appears the President is not interested in a third term but he's adopting the tactics of holding a bill for the striker to come and score. Who the striker is, I don't know."
Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, expressed outrage over the adoption of a third term proposal for the President and governors. He said the Mantu committee has confirmed by this action the suspicion of Nigerians that amending the constitution was to elongate the tenure of the President.
He also dismissed as an insult to the people of Niger Delta, the 18% derivation, against the wish f the people that it should be 25% in the first instance.
"What has happened shows that the whole objective of hurrying to amend the constitution was to elongate the tenure of the President and the governors. By adopting the third term proposal the reactional Assembly has, after gyrating in the guise of public hearing, confirmed what most Nigerians knew was their objective to elongate the tenure of Obasanjo's government."
On the 18% derivation to Niger Delta, he said: "Certainly 18% to the people of Niger Delta is an insult and falls far short of what the people have been asking for. The people have said that they want 25% in the first instance and increased to 50% over five years, and this position has not changed. So, if they think that 18% can soften anybody, then it is an exercise in self deceit."
However, the national chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, Chief Don Etiebet declared his full support for the committee's decision, claiming that it represented the aggregate opinions of Nigerians.
According to the ANPP leaders: "The decision of the committee was based on what the people said during the public hearing. What we should know is that they have not said that all Nigerians support three terms for the President and governors. In a democracy, you don't aim at 100 per cent support. All you need is 51 per cent.
"It has nothing to do with a third term. It is not just for Obasanjo, it is the Nigerian constitution. What the people of this country want is not whether or not there is a third term. What they want is political stability, economic growth and for the institutions to be properly rated."
Chief Etiebet who is leader of the number one opposition party in the country read mischief to any attempt to narrow the discussion on the Mantu Committee's report to an additional term for President Obasanjo. He described such decisions as direct allocation of funds to the local governments, rotation of the presidency between the North and the South and electoral reforms as landmark.
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