| Mantu, Agagu lead think-tank
for Obasanjo’s 3rd term bid
By VICTOR OGBONNAYA
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
The Centre for Free Speech, a non-governmental
organisation has asked Nigerians to resist any attempt by
the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to manipulate both
the legislature and the executive arm of government to plant
President Olusegun Obasanjo for a third term in office.
Addressing a news conference in Lagos, the chairman of the
centre, Mr Richard Akinola who made the call said it has become
very imperative to alert Nigerians on recent developments
designed to extend the tenure of office of President Obasanjo
beyond 2007.
According to Akinola, "two committees have been set up
to actualise this plan. The first committee, which is made
up of the President’s strategists have been meeting
on a regular basis at the home of Alhaji Waziri Mohammed;
the former chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation."
"Among those that belong to this group are Senator Ibrahim
Mantu, the Deputy Senate President, Professor Jerry Gana,
Political Adviser to the President, Chief Emeka Offor, Dr
Andy Uba, Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Affairs.
This group is charged with mapping out the strategies of the
plan," he disclosed.
Said he, "the second group which is the political group
is made up of some serving state governors. This group has
as its chairman, Chief Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State while
the vice-chairman is Alhaji Ahmed Markafi, the Governor of
Kaduna State."
Other governors of the group, according to the Centre for
Free Speech chairman include, "Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu
of Nassarawa State, Col. Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State,
Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and Adamu Muazu of Bauchi State."
He noted that this second group made up of governors was constituted
in order to achieve a third term for all the governors, if
they buy the plan which he said employed "a deceitful
propaganda and politics of distrust, pointing out that to
achieve this third term agenda, Obasanjo had concluded plans
to resuscitate the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) to
tinker the constitution in his favour.
Akinola stated that "the main agenda is to amend the
constitution to suit the five-year single term agenda for
the president and all the governors."
The governors, he further stated were brought into the agenda
in order to secure their support for the constitutional amendment
through their various state houses of assembly in readiness
for the CRC which is scheduled to pull through the amendment
early in 2005 after the National Assembly must have concluded
the passage of next year’s annual budget.
Other strategies being adopted in the plan, Akinola disclosed
"is the political reform of the PDP which would entail
an amendment of the party’s constitution to enable the
President have total control of the party, with the support
of Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of Board of Trustees of
the party," apparently a replay of the same scenario
enacted during the regimes of former Heads of State, Ibrahim
Babangida and late Sani Abacha who relentlessly tried to perpetuate
themselves in office.
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