<i>”The publicising of the proceedings made lawmakers to sit up and take the act of law-making, because no one wants to be caught on camera… … .”</sub>
The former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, has revealed some of the steps he took to abort the tenure elongation agenda (otherwise known as Third Term) of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Mr Nnamani, while speaking at the public presentation of his book: “STANDING STRONG: Legislative Reforms, Third Term and Other Issues of the 5th Senate,” at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, said by adjourning the senate in the course of the constitutional amendment process, some senators in support of the bill had a change of mind after interacting with their constituents.
Mr Nnamani, who represented Enugu East Senatorial District on the platform of the <a target=”_blank” href=”https://peoplesdemocraticparty.com.ng/”>Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),</a> was senate president between 2005 and 2007.
It was during his tenure that Mr Obasanjo, in 2006, sought to extend his tenure beyond the constitutionally-allowed two terms of four years each in 2006.
The former president, who was also the country’s military ruler between 1976 and 1979, wanted the National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution to enable him prolong his stay in office.
The move generated tension in the land at the time.
Mr Obasanjo has repeatedly denied he had a plan to spend another four years in office.
“If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it. And there is nothing I wanted that God has not given me,” he told Channels Television in 2012.
But narrating how the third term agenda was killed, Mr Nnamani said, “I wanted senators to vote with their mind on the question of whether we should amend the constitution to allow President Obasanjo a third term. I also wanted their votes to represent the views of their constituents.
“To be an informed trustee, the senators need to understand the view of their constituents before casting their votes. On this basis, the senate adjourned to allow the senators to consult with their constituents about the constitution amendment. With this intervention, some senators returned with enlightened views,” he said.
Mr Nnamani further disclosed that the live transmission of the plenary on May 16, 2006, when an alteration of the constitution to allow three terms for Nigeria’s presidents, forced some senators to abandon support for the bill seeking a third term for Mr Obasanjo.
He said forces within the government tried to stop the televised proceedings to prevent Nigerians from following the process.
“We decided to televise the proceedings. Publicising the proceedings was not supported by those who wanted to smuggle into the Constitution the extension of tenure through undefined and darkened procedure,” the former senate president, who is currently a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said.
“They knew that if we had sidelined Nigerians from the proceedings, and therefore reduced public pressure on the legislature, it would be possible to ram through, but I stood strong.
“We overcame intense pressure even from the highest level of government. We continued to broadcast the proceedings. The result of the publicity and openness was that we secured our democracy.
“The degree of public interest the debate generated owed largely to the decision to televise our proceedings. This was the origin of the now institutionalised used television to publicise proceedings of the National Assembly.
“The publicising of the proceedings made lawmakers to seat up and take the act of law-making, because no one wants to be caught on camera, either sleeping.”
The reviewer of the book, Adebayo Williams, a professor, said Mr Obasanjo saw himself as “God specially anointed with a divine mandate to treat the territory handed over to him as he deems fit.”
He said that mindset explains why the former president could not tolerate any opposition from the legislature or the judiciary.
“In an interactive session with President Obasanjo, the retired general, a master in the act of psych up, noted that Nnamani’s successful business might help him, he added a rider that it might also injure him. Obasanjo deliberately left it hanging,” Mr Williams said.
In his remarks, a former Minister of Defence, Theophilus Danjuma, who was the chairman of the occasion, said the book should be a textbook for all Nigerian students and aspiring future politicians.
“We do not value our history, that is why the distortions that hit the headlines survive,” Mr Danjuma, who was chief of army staff during the military regime of Mr Obasanjo, said
In a goodwill message, another former senate president, Adolphus Wabara, asked Mr Nnamani to ensure Nigeria remained democratic.
“You have to make sure that the country remains democratic and we must thank Buhari for not nursing ambition for a third term. I doff my hat for him.
“If he wanted an amendment of the constitution to extend his tenure, I am sure this current National Assembly will grant it. Keep standing strong,” Mr Wabara, a member of the PDP, said.
The <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/471873-pib-just-pass-bill-irrespective-of-whats-in-it-for-oil-producing-communities-akpabio.html”>Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio</a>, and the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi, were some of the dignitaries at the event.