There have been several accounts of how the National Assembly stood against the alleged 3rd term agenda of President Olusegun Obasanjo in the build-up of the 2007 elections, yet the man in the middle of the controversy, Obasanjo, insisted that the idea only existed in the imagination of those who talk about it.
A former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, had in 2021 revealed some of the steps he took to abort the alleged tenure elongation agenda.
Nnamani, while speaking at the public presentation of his book: “STANDING STRONG: Legislative Reforms, Third Term and Other Issues of the 5th Senate,” 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…
He 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.
A few months after Nnamani’s revelation, another key actor in the force against 3rd term, Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, also narrated his experience.
Gbajabimila said that he was offered N100 million to support the infamous third-term agenda of the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, saying his best moment as a lawmaker was when the agenda was killed.
The speaker recounted the times, in a book titled ‘Mr. Speaker: The Legislative Life, Service and Resilience of Femi Gbajabiamila’, recently launched in Abuja to mark his 60th birthday.
He said: “My best moment as a lawmaker was the death of Third Term; the day it was pronounced dead because we had sleepless nights. We were meeting; we got a place in Asokoro, hidden somewhere. We would start our meetings sometimes at 11 at night and leave at 4am. I can’t remember how many of us. It was a risk to life.
“So, the day it was pronounced dead was a happy day and a relief for me. I was a free man. Look, I was offered inducement, at that time, by one of the major proponents of Third Term. At this point, I would not mention his name, but he is a major player in this country.
“While they were offering members N50 million, I was offered double, a N100 million at that time, and you know what N100 million was, which, of course, I turned down. I say that for you to understand the pressure; financial, mental and physical pressure.
“We had no other job in the House except Third Term, constitutional amendment. For me, as noble as that work was, the best time was the day it died, not the Third Term itself, but the day it was killed on the floor.”
What remains a mystery is whether or not the former president attempted to manipulate the constitution to guarantee him another tenure beyond his second tenure which elapsed in 2027. It will be interesting to have a direct account of participants particularly principal members and members of the 6th National Assembly.
This may just elicit a proper discussion from the appropriate quarters.
