Uproar over Obasanjo's third term campaign

LAGOS-- As was in the last days of the era of the late General Sani Abacha, Nigeria's dictator (1993 to 98), when sycophants fell over each other begging him to continue in office as head of state, there have been growing calls by some Nigerians for President Olusegun Obasanjo to seek a third term in office come 2007.
Though the president himself had maintained that he would respect the constitution of the country, there have been efforts to amend the constitution allegedly to prolong the tenure of the President and the State governors. The 1999 Nigerian constitution presently in use allows for only two terms of four years each for the President and the governors.
Senator Arthur Nzeribe, in the forefront of those who supported Abacha's bid to continue in office, has lent his voice to the growing numbers of people calling on President Obasanjo to seek another term when his eight years in office expire in 2007 but analysts and pro-democracy bodies are worried that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was only playing out a script and testing the waters by such calls, some of which are from party bigwigs.
''When Nzeribe starts saying this kind of thing, we should take him seriously. There is always something behind his taking a position like that. He and others did it during the Abacha regime and it almost cost Nigeria serious problems. Now that he has joined others, there must be some truth in rumours that the President might seek a third term,'' says one commentator.
Mid November, chairman of the board of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Mr. Charles Ugwu also expressed support for a third term for the president when he said at a forum in Lagos that there was nothing wrong with the campaign to extend Obasanjo's tenure. But the association itself later distanced itself from the comments saying its was purely the chairman's opinion.
Reacting to Ugwu's position, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) argued that the campaign for a third term for Obasanjo would lead to anarchy in the country. In a statement signed by NLC's acting President Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar and General Secretary Mr. John Odah, the congress said the campaign was a throw back to the era of the former military President General Ibrahim Babangida and Abacha who died suddenly in office in 1998.
''It is wrong for MAN to assume that the ongoing reforms could not be sustained without the President. The argument by the MAN Chairman on why he wanted the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria set aside, contradicts the earlier widely circulated MAN reports about the comatose state of industries, with most still operating far below their capacities, while many are either closed down or distressed,'' the NLC said.
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) a Lagos-based non governmental organisation has also condemned the endorsement of the third term bid by MAN's chairman describing the statement credited to him as ''shameful and which smacks of opportunism''.
Worried that the present regime was toeing the lines of the late military dictator, the CDHR described the recently reported re-absorption into the Nigerian Army of former alleged hit man of the Abacha government, Sergeant Barnabas Msheila, popularly known as Sgt. Rogers as the highest form of insult on the collective integrity of Nigerians by the present government.

''The re-absorption of Rogers by the Olusegun Obasanjo-led government is a clear testimony to the alleged third term bid of the president, which is reminiscent of the adoption of the late General Abacha’s self succession bid in 1998. The reinstatement is aimed towards using him to coordinate the hit squad of the present government especially those opposed to Obasanjo’s third term,'' says the statement signed by Olugbenga Soloki, CDHR's National Publicity Secretary.
The CDHR enjoined Nigerians to express their concern against the third term bid to save the nascent democratic experiment from being truncated.

Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi in an interview with journalists in Abuja where he had gone to defend two factional leaders of the Oodua Peoples Congress, a Yoruba ethnic militia group in court for allegations of murder, stated that the recent clamp down on leaders of ethnic militia was part of the alleged third term agenda of President Obasanjo.

''This government is frightened. The clamp down on all human rights activists and so-called ethnic militia like Dokubo, Uwazuruike and others is part of the third term agenda. He did not arrest them prior to this time, so why is he arresting them now?'' Fawehinmi asked.

But government officials still maintain that the president would not run for a third term in 2007. ''I do not know why people will continue to hammer on the issue of a third term bid. Mr. President had said several times that he would respect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are tired of saying it over and over again that the president will respect the constitution on this matter,'' one official said in a telephone interview.

Governor Gbenga Daniel of Obasanjo's home state Ogun, Southwestern Nigeria said he specifically asked the president if he had such plans and he confided in him that he (president) would respect the Nigerian constitution, which he swore to protect. ''The President assured me that he would not do anything unconstitutional. That is enough assurance for anyone,'' Daniel said.

Former military governor of Western region and a leader of the Yoruba council of Elders (YCE), retired Major General Adeyinka Adebayo said despite being close to President Obasanjo, he has not told him he would seek for a third term in office.

''I would advise the people not to promote this third term aspiration. When he announces his intention for a third term, the people would be at liberty to criticise the plan the way they want,'' Adebayo said and advised ministers and other personal aides of the president promoting the third term bid to make Nigeria a better society.

''If Obasanjo's ministers and other political appointees use the same zeal with which they are promoting third term to find solutions to the nation's problem, most Nigerians would be contented and it is the Nigerian people who would urge him to have third term of office not that it would be forced down their throats,'' he said.

Afenefere, a Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and economic group also from the Southwest has restated its opposition to the alleged third term agenda, stressing that the Yoruba ethnic group will reject any attempt to extend the tenure of any political office holder. Obasanjo is of the Yoruba ethnic bloc from the Southwest.

A communique at the end of their meeting this week in Lagos and signed by the publicity secretary of the organsiation, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, stated that the group stands for fairness, equity and justice in its involvement in the political issues in the country.

''The Yoruba people are known for fairness, equity and justice as epitomised by Chief Obafemi Awolowo's struggle for libertarian values in all his years of political involvement in Nigeria. Following that tradition and our long struggle against dictatorship and subversion of the rule of law, the Yoruba nation rejects any attempt to elongate, extend or perpetuate the tenure of President Obasanjo, the state governors and other elected officials,'' the communique said.