Collins Edomaruse, Donald Andoor And Abel Orih
14 April 2006
Abuja Yola — Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday in Yola, Adamawa State, said Nigerians should rise against the third term agenda, explaining that allowing President Olusegun Obasanjo to secure an extra tenure was tantamount to endorsing life presidency.
His declaration came on the day the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) formally adopted the draft recommendations of the National Assembly Joint Committee for the Review of the 1999 Constitution (JCRC) which recommended a maximum tenure of three terms of four years each for the offices of President and state governor.
Atiku who was speaking to his supporters at Yola international airport, said no civilised society would condone a selfish manipulation of the constitution to pave the way for despotism.
"When the constitution is amended, it means Nigeria will have a life president. I detest it and I urge all Nigerians to strongly and vehemently resist any move that would actualise it", he said.
Atiku maintained that "if performance was the yardstick for the alteration of the constitution to elongate the tenure of the incumbent, United States of America would have changed its constitution ten times in favour of people like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton."
He added that democracy was a system that had tenets that must be respected, noting that in this period of globalization there was nowhere in the world that a president can succeed in retaining his office by manipulation.
He warned Adamawa indigenes in the National Assembly to steer clear of consenting to the idea as failure to heed his admonition would cost them their political future in the state.
"I want to warn here that Adamawa indigenes at the National Assembly should not consent to the passage of any third term agenda, anyone who does that will have his future political career in this state brought to an end", he declared.
Said Atiku: "If you don't want a life-time president, then you should talk to your representatives at the National Assembly who are now on recess with you, never to succumb to any attempt to legalize the third term agenda just for the interest of one person.
"Any representative of Adamawa State at the National Assembly who consents to the third term agenda would surely have his future political career in this state terminated forever and ever.
"Those from Adamawa state who are supporting the third term agenda are representatives from Mubi South and Mubi North as well as those from Numan and Maiha Local Government Areas of the state.
"I am hereby strongly advising all the respective local government councils chairmen and people of these areas to call their representatives to order, otherwise their political career would be ruined as far as this state is concerned."
Meanwhile, there was a mild drama at the Yola International Airport when the Vice President arrived. As thousands of his supporters thronged the airport to welcome him back home, several placards-carrying protesters laid siege to the airport gate and the adjoining roads to protest against his presidential ambition.
The protesters with placard of different inscriptions such as "Atiku we are tired of you"; "Atiku Azzalumi ne"; "Atiku Bama sonka"; "Atiku you did nothing to improve our lives"; "We are for Obasanjo", were prevented from gaining access to the airport by the security operatives.
At a point the protesters retreated, hid their placards only to ambush the Vice President and his entourage on their way out. Addressing journalists later, their spokesman, Alhaji Musa Kamale, said that the protesting groups came from different organizations to express their displeasure with the Vice President.
He said everyone in Adamawa was aware that the state was worse than what it was before 1999, adding that the public officials that were given the opportunity to deliver the people turned out to be slave drivers
"Atiku is the enemy of himself, he had the opportunity to print his name in gold but he wasted it. What we have from him is neglect, poverty, and decayed infrastructure. With this decay, you still want us to support him? If we do that posterity will not forgive us," he said.
He stated that the protesters were "peace-loving people, civilized individuals, so our protest was peaceful. Atiku should show us his score cards and we will support him".
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of PDP in the state, Mr. Musa Kamale, said they were not staging the peaceful protest in favour of any third term agenda, but to drive home the failure of Atiku Abubakar to carry the people of the state along.
He said, "If the Vice President had carried his people along, there is no how Adamawa indigenes at the National Assembly would have supported the third term agenda. That is another sign of failure on his part and that is one of the reasons we are not happy with him".
Meanwhile, the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) yesterday rose from an emergency meeting in Abuja with the resolve to set up a special committee to investigate allegations of anti-party activities leveled against Atiku, Adamawa State Governor Boni Haruna and Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu.
In addition, the meeting formally adopted the draft recommendations of the Joint Committee of the National Assembly for the Review of the Constitution (JCRC) which recommended a third term in office for President Obasanjo and state governors while urging all its members to embark on an intensive lobby of both the National and State Assembly members to approve the amendments.
National Secretary of the party, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, who briefed newsmen after the meeting, where both Obasanjo and Atiku were absent explained that the meeting considered only two items on its agenda. The items were anti-party activities against some "very important members of the party" and the formal adoption of the recommendations of National Assembly committee on the review of the Constitution.
He said that based on the reports received from both the Adamawa State and North East Chapters of PDP on anti-party activities against the Vice President, "NEC approved the setting up of a special committee to investigate thoroughly those anti-party activities of the Vice President with a view to recommending actions to be taken against him (Atiku) and report back at the next regular meeting of NEC."
He neither named members of the committee nor explained whether it will carry out its assignment independent of the standing disciplinary committee of the party.
Maduekwe said that the party which was worried about the clandestine meetings and allegation of funding other political associations had written to some of its members to explain their level of involvement, "but such members like Rimi, (Alhaji Abubakar Rimi), Na'Abba (Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba), Ogbeh (former chairman of the PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh) have written to PDP to withdraw their membership of the party, so that closes the chapter," he emphasized.
Apparently dissatisfied, Governors Akume, Kure and Haruna led 25 other PDP National Executive Council (NEC) members to stage a walk-out on the party.
According to Akume, who spoke for the group, they took the action to protest what he described as "the shoddy manner the party's NEC meeting was being conducted" by National Chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Ali.
Akume told THISDAY that he was disappointed with Ali's handling of the meeting, which "even barred certain members from speaking or contributing to debates."
Recounting his encounter with Ali, Akume said: "I was stopped from speaking at the meeting. I made several attempts to air my view but Ali stopped me, insisting that the only condition he would allow me speak was if I agreed to be guided by the rules.
"But I told him that I would not like to be restricted by technicalities. We were frustrated. So we walked out."
THISDAY checks at the meeting, however, revealed that similar restrictions were imposed on Senate Chief Whip, Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma, Majority Leaders of House of Representatives, Hon. Abdul Ningi, as well as House Chief Whip, Hon. Bawa Bwari.
Other NEC members who joined the governors in the walk-out are:National Vice-Chairman, (North-central), Alhaji Abubakar Magaji, Chairmen of PDP in Kebbi, Benue and Niger States, Ex-officio member (North-east) and former minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Hamza Sakwa.
Akume eulogised the media for their steadfastness in "standing up to be counted in this trying times", adding that: "If not for the media, this third term would have been history. Several politicians are afraid to speak out."
He assured Nigerians that he and his governor colleagues that were opposed to the third term agenda would speak to the press on the state of the nation's polity "at the most auspicious time."
Those who attended the NEC meeting which lasted less than one hour were: Senate President Ken Nnamani and his Deputy, Ibrahim Mantu; House Speaker Aminu Bello Masari and his Deputy, Austine Opara. The governros were: Boni Haruna (Adamawa), Peter Odili (Rivers), Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa), Segun Agagu (Ondo), Bukola Saraki (Kwara), George Akume (Banue), Jonathan Goodluck (Bayelsa), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Adamu Muazu (Bauchi), Ibrahim Idris (Kogi) and Sam Egwu (Ebonyi). There were also Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa while Alao Akala came from Oyo State.
Also in attendance was the Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, former PDP Chairman, Chief Barnabas Gemade and Alhaji Iro Danmusa and others.
Before the commencement of the meeting, Ali spoke glowingly about the proposed amendments of the constitution which he said should encourage lively debates among Nigerian intellectuals.
He, however, added: "unfortunately, the opposition have embarked on cloak and dagger by manufacturing a third term phrase which is being orchestrated by the press."
Defending the third term agenda, he stressed that Section 131(1)(b) had been amended to read, "A person shall not be qualified for an election to the office of the President if he has been elected to such office at any three previous elections in accordance with this constitution,".
According to him, "this provision has exposed the naked innuendoes of the opposition that these amendments meant that a candidate that succeeds in an election to the presidency of this country under the constitution now has 12 more years to serve!"
He said that the PDP headquarters will deploy its personnel to embark of intensive tour of states to lobby the State Assemblies to approve the amendments as well as the National Assembly.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
