It all started with a group under the aegis of “Movement for the Approval of BUHARI Third Term”, demanding a constitutional amendment to allow President Muhammadu Buhari continue in office beyond 2023.
When this group surfaced in the social media, many took its mission and vision with a pinch of salt because of the belief that the 1999 Constitution (as amended), is unambiguous on the number of years/term an elected person can spend in an executive position.
However, despite public renunciation of this group by the presidency, Nigerians were shocked when the foremost human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said he was certain that Buhari was working towards illegally elongating his stay in office.
Falana urged Nigerians to disregard the denial by the presidency, saying all moves by the president and his allies point to the fact that they were planning to elongate the president’s tenure.
While backing his claims, he listed the current alleged efforts at driving the opposition ground, alleged assault on free speech, crackdown on the media, including the new media aandperceived authoritarian moves in the areas of free trade and impunity in the conduct of state matters, as known tell-tale signs of tenure elongation agenda.
Falana also cited the continued incarceration of activist cum politician, Omoyele Sowore, despite a valid bail order from a court of competent jurisdiction as, one of the worrying reasons, Nigerians should not delay in rising against the alleged fascism creeping on them.
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According to Falana, “We have heard his group demanding a third term for him and the president trying to distance himself in a very unconvincing manner. I have no doubt there is a third term agenda, because dictatorship of the kind we are witnessing now, in the past, was to one end; tenure elongation.
“He (Buhari) is trying to cow Nigerians, but no one can successfully do that. All his recent actions are geared towards that; ruling from London, closing borders, arresting opposition and jailing journalists, are meant for him, to be the only voice in the country, it won’t be.
At another forum in Lagos recently, Falana said the attack on free press in the country is over a third term agenda being nursed by the Federal Government.
While speaking at the public presentation of a book, ‘Testimony to Courage’, essays in honour of Premium Times publisher, Dapo Olorunyomi, Falana said Nigeria had “gone to the dogs” and only the media could help.
“The media must not be silenced. You may have a third term campaign soon. Soon, they will destroy all possible opponents. And by the time they bring in the third term agenda, the media would have been gone. But, we are nwill notw it. No dictatorship can defeat the Nigerian people,” he added.
However, Buhari at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), held at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, last week, ruled out the possibility of seeking a third term in office at the expiration of his second term on May 29, 2023.
The President, who swore to abide by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended, said, “I am not going to make the mistake of attempting a third term. Beside the age, I swore by the holy book that I would go by the constitution and the constitution said two terms. I know that I am in my last term and I can afford to be reckless, because I am not going to ask for anybody’s vote.”
Nigerians have continued to react to the introduction of the controversial Hate Speech Bill in the Senate, which many perceived as preparing the ground for the alleged third term agenda.
According to political watchers, the bill, which has passed second reading at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, is an initiative of Senator Sani Musa, representing Niger East Senatorial District.
The bill is believed to be sponsored against the backdrop of repeated complaints about so-called hate speech and fake news by the Buhari administration and for the said bill to have passed second reading despite the Senate leadership distancing itself from it, should make Nigerians remain skeptical.
Last week, a member of the APC in Ebonyi State, Charles Oko Enya, approached a Federal High Court, in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State, to direct the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to remove constitutional clauses hindering elected president and state governors from seeking a third term in office.
In his suit No: FHC/AI/CS/90/19, which was filed at the court, and made available to newsmen by his counsel, Barrister Iheanacho Agboti, the APC member is seeking for possible removal of Section 137 (1) (b) and 182 (1) (b) in the 1999 Constitution (as amended). He insisted that the sections see infringement on the fundamental human rights of the likes of President Buhari and all state governors, excluding the legislators.
Enya explained that the ongoing two-term tenure is discriminatory to section 42 (1) (a) and Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples rights.
The defendants in the suit are the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Mohammed Sani-Omolori, the National Assembly, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Malami.
Nigerians would recall that the applicant (Hon. Enya), had served as the Organising Secretary to President Buhari, in the 2019 polls.
According to him: “That section 137 (1) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), restricting the president to only two terms of four years each, is inoperative by virtue of its discriminatory nature, in relation to the Executive and Legislative branches of government in Nigeria, and therefore, null and void, and thus inapplicable.”
The move by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to change the constitution so that he could run a third time for the presidency in 2007, would not be forgotten so soon. In any event, the effort to change the constitution generated widespread opposition, and eventually it was defeated in the National Assembly.
Even though Obasanjo never publicly admitted wanting to extend his rule, his supporters kept pushing to give him another four years in power, a proposal which ended up aggravating ethnic, religious and regional rifts and sparked warnings that turmoil could engulf Africa’s most populous nation.
The era of former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, also witnessed a similar situation when a group known as the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) was formed after the Babangida regime abolished all political parties and created the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1991.
The primary objective of the ABN, which was formed by a former Senator, Francis Arthur Nzeribe, was to keep Babangida in power and maintain the military administration that governed Nigeria for so long. The ABN demonstrated its determination to achieve its objective by putting up billboards in Abuja that carried the message “Four More Years”, which meant that the military government should stay in power for another four years. The intensity of the ABN’s pro-government campaigns led many observers to conclude that the federal military government was behind the activities of the association.
The ABN, which was not seen as a popular group, was treated with contempt, particularly by pro-democracy groups and most of the Nigerian press. As a result, many of those who associated with the group kept it virtually secret.
In its tenacity to endorse continuous military rule, the ABN went to court to prevent the holding of the June 1993 presidential election. The ABN’s reason for demanding the injunction was that the leaders of the NRC and SDP were corrupt politicians.
The Campaign for Democracy (CD), a coalition of pro-democracy groups, challenged the ABN because it was unconstitutional to canvass for the continuation of the military government in Nigeria. The ABN lost the case. After the elections, the ABN again went to court to prevent the release of the election results.
Also in 1997, a politician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Daniel Kanu, came up with a group known as “Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha” (YEAA). The campaign was formed to urge the late Abacha, to self-succeed and run for Nigeria’s presidency.
The YEAA campaign placed billboards around the country, publicised advertisements in the media and sponsored editorials to encourage support for Abacha. The support of the former military ruler culminated in 1998 with what is now famously remembered as the two-million-man march.
According to an interview with Kanu, the costs of the rally, estimated at N400 – N500 million, were paid for by “patriotic individuals”.
One of those who have the conviction that Buhari will never attempt a third term is the former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, who disagreed with Falana.
Replying Falana, Fani-Kayode said in a tweet that Buhari did not have a third term agenda, but a Northern Agenda. “My brother Femi Falani has suggested that Muhammadu Buhari has a third term agenda. He is wrong. There is no “third term agenda” but there is a “northern agenda”.
“The plan is to ensure that another core northern Muslim from the North East or North West takes over from Buhari to finish what he started,” he tweeted.
A pro-Buhari group, Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), on Monday said that all those pushing for a third term in office for President Buhari should count him out as his decision not to be involved in such was sacrosanct, final and irreversible.
In a statement signed by its chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, BMO, said that those pushing the agenda should respect the President and stop the campaign.
Akinsiju said that his organisation had believed that Buhari’s declaration would put the matter to rest finally.
The statement reads, “We want to restate that President Muhammadu Buhari is an acclaimed democrat and a man of integrity.
“It is important to acknowledge that Buhari’s major concern is to rebuild the dilapidated infrastructure in the country, eradicate corruption and fight insecurity, thereby bequeathing a country that works for all citizens.
“As a man of integrity, he will not renege on his promise and neither will he bastardise the Nigerian constitution for personal gains, no matter the pressure.
“Definitely, third term is not on the agenda of the President as it runs contrary to the oath of office he swore to.”
Shehu Sani, former Senator representing Kaduna Central, in his reaction to Buhari’s comment, said in his tweet that “The King hath said no additional term: let there be no reception and audience for the campaigners in the palace, let no man around the throne say he should ‘answer the call of the people’ and let no palace Priests and Clerics say ‘he should answer the call of God”.
The Pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has also declared that sinister moves to ensure that President Buhari rules Nigeria beyond 2023 would be resisted.
Afenifere, in a communiqué after its General Assembly meeting Tuesday at the residence of Pa Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo State capital, maintained that the on-going plan by some individuals as well as the body language of the president are indicators of a third term agenda.
Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, who read the group’s communiqué after the meeting, said the fact that President Buhari has been inconsistent over the third term plan, emphasises that introducing the Hate Speech Bill is an attempt to stiffen any dissenting voice over the move.
The communiqué read in part: “The meeting took serious note of the rumoured plans to subvert the constitution of Nigeria to allow President Buhari to have a third term in office, which started with an APC senatorial candidate in Bauchi last year during a by-election, declaring that he was coming to the Senate to work for a third term for Buhari.
“This was followed by the president, who has a maximum of possible eight years in office, telling the country he would lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
“To douse the tension the rumoured plot is generating, the president made a denial a few days ago, which we took with a pinch of salt because it is not the first time politicians would pursue what they are denying in Nigeria, swearing with Allah/God.
“We have not forgotten that General Buhari told this country in 2011 that he would do only one term if he became president. He is now on a second term. He also promised Nigerians in 2015 that he would not have the office of the First Lady as president. He was mute when his wife issued an order that she must be addressed as First Lady and he has appointed six aides for the office.
“Meeting also observed that the reason given for the president for not thinking of a third term is the constitutional limit of two terms without talking about what he would do if that hindrance was removed.
“With the National Assembly in the pocket, the only hurdle left to change that provision would be two-thirds of Houses of Assembly and we have seen the president holding a meeting with 36 speakers.
“And shortly after this meeting, an APC member in Ebonyi State approached a Federal High Court to compel the National Assembly to remove the constitutional impediments against third term for president and governors.
“We have seen this fire before for this smoke not to be strange to us. Afenifere, therefore, calls on Nigerians to be vigilant and thwart any attempt to take the country for a ride once again.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while reacting asked the president to address the challenges of electoral violence, killings and alteration of election results rather than dissipating energy to talk about whether or not he would seek a third term in office in 2023.
The party stated in a statement issued by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, that, “The party counsels President Buhari to note that third term is a dead end. Touting respect for the constitution as a way of bringing the issue to public discussion cannot give it life.
“The PDP notes that if President Buhari seeks to uphold the constitution, he should have used the APC National Executive Committee (NEC), meeting to directly and strongly condemn violence, killing, forceful invasion of polling units and alteration of results to seize power in the November 16 Kogi and Bayelsa states governorship election and the Kogi West Senatorial election.
“President Buhari by now ought to have summoned his service chiefs and ordered a presidential investigation into the violence and observed infractions in the elections, including the deployment of a Police helicopter to teargas voters.
“It is important to state that such failure, however, registers grave meanings to Nigerians.
“It is also unfortunate that instead of taking concrete and decisive steps to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crimes in Kogi and Bayelsa to book and give assurances of electoral reforms, Mr. President is rather seeking to make discourse of an unattainable third term.
“Our party notes that from President Buhari’s speech, he is more interested in the survival of the APC than the survival of democracy, which his party is doing all to truncate since the impunity that was introduced by the APC to manipulate greater part of the 2019 Presidential elections.
“The PDP urges Nigerians to note Mr. President’s well-informed fears that the APC might not survive his tenure. Such is a bitter truth of the inevitable mortality of a devious platform upon which Nigerians experienced the worst form of suppression, deprivation and cruelty ever in the history of our nation. There is no hope for APC.
“The APC is a party that has brought so much division, bloodletting and hardship to Nigeria, so much that compatriots resorted to suicide and slavery mission abroad as options. Such a platform can only thrive for a while.
“It is therefore advisable for Mr. President to abandon the true and unambiguous picture of the fate of his dying party and concentrate on ways to address the problems brought by his administration on Nigerians.
“Instead of attempting to spur a public discourse out of unattainable third term or seeking to mend an already derelict APC, Mr. President should know that Nigerians’ expectation of him, in this second and last term, is the restoration of the rule of law and a legacy of electoral reforms that will guarantee free, fair and credible election in Nigeria,” the PDP added.
But, the APC again, came hard on Enya on his purported legal action seeking a third term for President Buhari.
The party, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Isa-Onilu, reads: “The All Progressives Congress (APC) has read in the media about a purported legal action taken by a self-proclaimed member of the Party, Charles Enya, seeking an amendment of the constitution to allow President Muhammadu Buhari run for a third term in office.
“The party had initially chosen to ignore him. However, it has become important to send a clear message to him and such other agents provocateurs.
“At the last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Party, President Buhari didn’t mince words and he is not the type that talks tongue-in-cheek. He pointedly said he would abide by the constitution and uphold the oath of office he took, swearing by the holy book he believes in. This he said was besides his advanced age which made such an idea beyond his contemplation.
“The NEC meeting highlights released to the media by the party equally quoted the President admonishing APC members, leaders and elected officials to reposition themselves in their respective constituencies to sustain the administration’s landmark legacies beyond 2023 when the President’s constitutionally permitted terms end.
“The president said history would not be fair to members if the APC collapses after his second term. What better proof is required of the President’s resolve to abide by the constitution on term limit?
“The party is, however, by this statement sending a strong signal to such other busybodies like Charles Enya who may contemplate testing the resolve of our government on our mission to work for the best for our country to be ready to face the law.
“We would follow this new enemy of our country, who is most likely being sponsored by the desperate and misguided opposition, every step of the way, using all legal means to thwart his devilish efforts to create chaos in our country.
“As a party, we would not take kindly to anyone or group causing unnecessary distraction for this administration through anti-democratic actions. As a country, we are several years behind where we ought to be. The President Buhari-led administration is focused on the onerous responsibility of delivering good governance. We are focused on revamping our moribund infrastructure, growing the economy, fighting corruption, creating the right environment for our teeming youths to deploy their creative energies, and providing adequate security for all of our people.
“We have tried to find out the status of this character claiming to be a member of our party. If he turns out to be our member, we would ensure the party organ that has the responsibility to act on this matter promptly start expelling him. We are a progressive party and we do not have space for anti-democratic forces and charlatans.”
Nigerians are taking all positions on the issue with a pinch of salt having experienced same in 2006 during the Obasanjo regime. In Nigeria politics, anything is possible, and once bitten, twice shy.
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