Posted by From Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja on
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday in Abuja denied any part in the attempt to use state governors to back a constitutional amendment that would enable President Olusegun Obasanjo bid for a third term in office.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday in Abuja denied any part in the attempt to use state governors to back a constitutional amendment that would enable President Olusegun Obasanjo bid for a third term in office.
The party's denial was corroborated by Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State who said in Calabar yesterday that the President had told him that he would retire to his Ota, Ogun State farm in 2007.
But the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has said that despite the denial by the PDP, it is taking the speculation seriously, asking the 19 governors from the Northern part of the federation to stand in the way of the move to increase the tenure of the President beyond his 2003 mandate that expires on May 29, 2007.
THISDAY had reported exclusively Monday that the 36 governors of the federation would meet Thursday to push for support for the amendment that would pave the way for the President and state chief executives to have three terms of four years each in office.
But the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. John Odey, said yesterday at a news briefing that the party had no hand in the move by the governors, saying that the PDP would rather wait for the National Assembly to do its constitutional job of lawmaking without any encumbrance.
'We have not summoned any meeting with any governor on the amendment of the constitution, and we are not going to do such a thing. The National Assembly is constitutionally empowered to deal with all issues bordering on lawmaking, and we do not have that power as a political party, he said.
Odey added, 'We do not have the power, neither do the governors. We are confident that the National Assembly will make any constitutional review when necessary."
Blaming opposition parties for 'the speculation on the third-term agenda", the national publicity secretary said the party had commenced a public awareness campaign to educate the public on the nation's electoral process. 'We are embarking on public enlightenment to engage our supporters and other Nigerians so that together we can build a strong and virile political culture for the country,'' he said.
According to him, the PDP believes that if the public is properly enlightened on the electoral process, the electioneering process will be virtually hitch-free.
The enlightenment campaign, Odey explained, would also educate the public on the problems associated with godfathers, adding that once the public was educated and the elite began to participate in the politics of their communities, the problem would be solved.
Speaking on the impending formation of the Movement for Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD), a coalition of political association opposed to the PDP, he said the party was not awed by the development. 'We are not intimidated and we are not afraid because we do not want a system where only PDP will exist,'' he stated.
Odey stressed that the failure of strong opposition in the country was not healthy for democratic governance and criticised other political parties for not developing the capacity to challenge the PDP government on issues that could help develop the country.
'They spend much of the time raising spurious claims on the pages of the newspapers just to cause distraction for the government," he said.
Odey's claim that the PDP had no plans to back the pro-third term amendment was corroborated by his home state governor, Duke, who told newsmen in Calabar that the President would be racing back to his Ota farm at the expiration of his tenure in 2007.
The governor who said he was close to the President said that the latter had intimated him that he would return to Ota at the expiration of his second term.
Duke who was reacting during a media briefing yesterday to an allegation that he was one of the 30 governors that signed a document acceding to a third term for the President, said his silence on the speculation was based on the belief that it was 'not every issue one should react to because it was a none issue."
'He [the President] has never mentioned the much publicized third term to me and has said he would only wait to see who would drag him out of Ota after 2007," Duke said.
But the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) would not believe this as it asked the 19 governors in its zone to truncate the extra term bid. Its Chairman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, told newsmen in Abuja that the governors from the North had been urged to resist moves by The Presidency to intimidate them into supporting the alleged third term bid.
He said the governors were not unaware of the mood of the electorate in each of their states as regards the alleged third term. 'I believe they (the governors) are not likely to go against the mood of the electorate in their states. The mood is against third term, and it will be very unwise to go against the mood of their people, no matter the pressure," he said.
Awoniyi added, 'In fairness to the governors, at the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC), they stood firm and told Obasanjo that they could not go against the decisions of the Northern delegates as Obasanjo had wished because the delegates spoke for their people. The northern members of the Senate at their meeting in Kaduna rejected the project. The spokesman of the Gove-rnors" Forum at that same meeting also spoke against the project. Everybody, including the governors saw the derision and booing with which the proponents of the project were greeted as members filed out after the meeting."
The ACF leader stated further, ìSome Senate members who were known to be for it dared not show their faces at the Kaduna meeting. Also, some three weeks later, at the 40th Anniversary Commemoration of the death of the Sardauna of Sokoto at Arewa House, Kaduna on 14th January this year, the Northern senators and members of the House of Representatives sent a joint message to the jam-packed audience that they were united against the third term project.
Awoniyi added, 'That meeting passed three unanimous resolutions. The first resolution was that, the governors should meet urgently to forge unity among themselves and work out a programme of unity for the good of Nigeria and the North with the support of the former heads of state and Presidents of
Northern origin and present the programme to the North for action."
Continuing, he noted that ìa resolution was also passed to congratulate the Northern senators and members of the House of Representatives for their joint message, promising to keep to their words and that the people of the North were fully behind them.
He called on the Northern governors to 'take these resolutions into account and seek ways to give them effect. At the personal level, I know that several of the governors are not seeking a return to power. I believe they will prove to be honourable men and that they will oppose third term even if they do not proclaim so from the rooftop.