Posted by By Chinwendu Nnadozie (Minna) and Rafiu Ajakaye (Lagos) on
Jerry Gana, sacked in May as Presidential Adviser, has disclosed that President Olusegun Obasanjo himself insisted on going for a third term....
Jerry Gana, sacked in May as Presidential Adviser, has disclosed that President Olusegun Obasanjo himself insisted on going for a third term and that he failed to heed advice that it was a dangerous gambit that could split the country.
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If Obasanjo had embraced the single six-year tenure canvassed at the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC), Gana stressed, there could not have been a tenure extension agenda, which amounts to changing the rules midway, and is anti-people.
According to him, it was because the president wanted it his own way, the people rose up to oppose the plot, leading to its failure. He denied he was part of the plot and insisted that he opposed it in his own way.
"I didn't keep quiet", he retorted in an interview in Minna.
"I talked severally and very, very loudly to my boss (Obasanjo) but my words could not make the expected impact. May be you did not hear about it because I was not doing so on the pages of newspapers or in the media".
That was his denial of the charge that advisers had urged Obasanjo on.
"Many a time I made it clear to him that the third term thing was not right because we had advised on a single term of six years.
"I and my good brothers, Ojo Maduekwe and Kanu Agabi, had taken that position at the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) and many of the people who should have backed it agitated that the document be thrown out. I view that to be a terrible mistake the conference had made".
Gana is a Presidential hopeful who plans to flag off his campaign soon.
He stressed that he has no regret serving under Obasanjo, but "we are not going to be in the exact direction of the present government, we shall apply our own policies with a human face" if elected.
He said the President has done his good bit and should quit Aso Rock in 2007 to stave off the turmoil his staying put could engender.
Gana advocated power shift to other regions.
"I also hope that our brothers from the South West will understand this argument by accepting not to seek that their brother remain in office, so that peace and stability could reign in the country. We have done well enough, let us move on …."
He denied reports that his kinsmen in Minna are against his ambition because former military President, Ibrahim Babangida, is also running for the Villa.
"Some of you (journalists) got that story and I also understand that some of you have also gone ahead to publish it. It is good that you are here now to see things for yourself rather than depend on falsehood and half truths.
What has Gana to offer?
"We have a 12-point programme. When we do the declaration in Abuja in a few weeks to come we shall present the agenda to the populace. But for the purpose of this interview, I just want to highlight on two or three of those key areas - education, power sector and the eradication of poverty.
"The best way to transform any country is to invest in the people themselves. The people are the ones that really matter: Their education, proper health condition and welfare should reasonably be good".
"We should be able to guarantee their security and their values should be protected at all times. What we intend to do is to evolve ways of transforming the people who will, in turn, apply their wealth of experience to transform the economy".
