By Oguwike Nwachuku
On Friday, November 22, President Muhammadu Buhari reiterated he will not be seeking another term after 2023 when his constitutionally-approved two terms would have been completed.
He spoke in reference to the latest antics of third term or tenure elongation protagonists.
Buhari was first sworn in to office on May 29, 2015, and again on May 29, 2019 following his re-election.
Addressing a gathering of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in Abuja, Buhari said he will not make the mistake of seeking a third term in office.
Before that day, insinuations were rife, rightly or wrongly, that third term or tenure elongation crusaders were at work.
“I’m not going to make the mistake of attempting a third term,” the president insisted.
Buhari explained: “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’m in my last term and I can afford to be reckless because I’m not going to ask for anybody’s vote.”
The president rounded off by saying that history would not be fair to members of the ruling party if the APC collapses after his second term.
The fear of a possible collapse or implosion of the APC post Buhari-era is perhaps where the fear domiciled. It is the basis upon which political hawks see window of opportunity to propose for another term for Buhari.
“Every member of NEC from today should reposition himself or herself to make sure that you have dominated your constituencies politically. History will not be fair to us if out-rightly, if the APC collapses at the end of this term,” Buhari said.
Many are wont to interpret Buhari’s comment on the fate of the APC after him as prophetic.
Some APC chieftains, like former governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, fear that the chances of survival of the Party after Buhari is slim if certain things are not done right.
November 22 was not the first time Buhari spoke about not nursing a third term ambition after 2023. In fact, on October 1, 2019 he said, “I am not like Obasanjo, I won’t seek a third term in office.”
Buhari had assured Nigerians then that a third term in office or a constitutional amendment that will yield one, is not how he would want to be remembered.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, had issued a statement on Independence Day on insinuation third term.
Shehu had said: “The Presidency wishes to correct internet-based gossip and un-informed media commentary regarding presidential term limits, given credence by so-called support groups, staging street demonstrations asking President Muhammadu Buhari to do a third term.
“There are no circumstances – nor set of circumstances – under which President Buhari may seek to amend the constitution regarding the two-term limit on holding office as president.
“President Buhari intends to serve his full second elected term in office, ending 2023 – and then there shall be a general election in which he will not be a candidate.
“There is not even the faintest possibility that this will change.”
In whatclearly is a dig at former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a rabid Buhari critic, who attempted a third term in 2006 by trying to tinker with the constitution, but warned Buhari against seeking a second term in office in January of 2018, the presidency said nothing could be further from the truth.
“It is important to note that there was a past attempt to change the constitution to allow for the then incumbent president to stand for a third term. That attempt was wrong, unconstitutional – and rightly rebuffed. No such attempt will happen under this president (Buhari).
“President Buhari is a democrat. He respects the constitution. Any activity aimed at altering the two-term limit will not succeed and shall never have his time nor support,” the statement concluded.
But when Nigerians thought they have heard enough about tenure elongation, a man who claims to be a chieftain of the APC in Ebonyi State, Charles Oko Enya, is giving it a fresh spike.
Enya recently approached a Federal High Court in Abakiliki, seeking that the court directs the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to remove constitutional encumbrances on the way of elected President and state governors who desire a third term in office.
In a suit -FHC/AI/CS/90/19 – he filed at the court on Wednesday, November 20 by his counsel, Iheanacho Agboti, Enya seeks for possible expungement of section 137(1) (b) and 182 (1) (b) in the 1999 constitution (as amended).
He insists the sections infringe on the fundamental human rights of the likes of President Buhari and state governors, excluding the legislators.
Enya said 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 Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, the National Assembly and Malami were named as defendants in the suit.
Enya deposed 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.”
Enya, who earnestly awaits the soonest hearing of the matter seeks the order of the court to direct the first and second defendants to delete and expunge sections 137(1)(b) and 182(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He also tasks the third defendant (as the Chief Law Officer of the federation) to give the needed support to the first and second defendants to commence a constitutional amendment that would remove the restrictions and the alleged discriminatory sections on tenure limits.
Part of Enya’s prayer include: “Order of the court nullifying and setting aside section 137(1)(b) and 182(1) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“Order of the court directing the first and second defendants to delete and expunge sections 137(1)(b) and 182(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (as amended).”
The issue of tenure elongation in Nigeria’s political governance is not totally new. During the many years of military dictatorship, tenure elongation was a dish Nigerians were forced to consume regardless of how poisonous.
From Yakubu Gowon to Muritala Mohammed to Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha, shifting of the goal posts to suit the appetite for power was “normal.” But of all the military dictators, Babangida and Abacha stood out with their nauseating political gimmick to stay on top of their ambition.
Babangida’s quest to hang on to power gave vent to the (in)famous Association of Better Nigeria (ABN) floated by maverick politician, Senator Francis Arthur Nzeribe and Abimbola Davies with which a fundamental damage was done to the political journey of Nigeria following the annulment of the 1993 presidential election believed to be won by MKO Abiola.
Notwithstanding the manner Babangida quit office, Abacha still did not learn enough lesson from the predecessor’s predicament.
Instead, Abacha began his own process of transmutation from a military dictator to a civilian president, manipulating political parties he saw to their formation, with the hope of being the ultimate beneficiary as the adopted sole presidential candidate of the parties.
It was indeed a period of locust in Nigeria when characters like Daniel Kanu of the Youth Earnestly Ask Abacha (YEAA) masterminded the 2,000,000 man march in Abuja and other parts of the country, thereby fouling the country’s political space to no end.
The quest to hang on to power which many Nigerians thought was an aberration during the military era was again put to test when the country returned to civil rule in 1999.
In 2006, the eve of Obasanjo’s second term end as president, he was fingered for attempt to introduce tenure elongation into the country’s political lexicon in a democracy.
Writing on the defeat of Obasanjo’s third term bidin the book: “Too Good To Die: Third Term And The Myth Of The Indispensable Man In Africa,”Chidi Odinkalu and Ayisha Osori said the former president and his foot soldiers offered N50 million for each member of the House and N75 million for each Senator who was ready to vote for the tenure extension amendment.
Excerpts from the book explained: “Finally, there were the legislators who formed a key part of operations to secure a third term for Obasanjo. In the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu, Ifeanyi Araraume and Jubril Aminu were some of the leading figures involved in the lobby to induce legislators to accept the constitutional amendments.
“Within the House of Representatives, there were several caucuses across interests, geography and parties. For instance, there was the Unity Forum led by David Idoko. Under the guise of advocating for the unity of Nigeria, this group of legislators sought to drive support for the third term agenda within the public and amongst legislators. In return, many of them were reportedly well rewarded.
“These foot soldiers committed to the glory of a third term, an ode to Obasanjo’s now personal god complex, worked towards their goal with the aid of various strategies guided by Obasanjo’s mechanical engineering mind. What was needed? Who was needed? Who could be bullied or bought?
“Some of the strategies were familiar and had been used by other self-succession artists. The key tool was incentives – the trade by barter that had worked so well in keeping elite support for military rule for over 29 years.
“Positions were offered. Sitting governors, for example, would enjoy tenure elongation as well and several loyalists from the North had been promised that they would become Obasanjo’s vice president during his third term.
“Financial reward was also a huge inducement. The most credible figure for members of the National Assembly was N50 million for each member of the House and N75 million for each senator who would vote for the tenure extension amendment.”
Till date, Obasanjo has continued to deny attempt to tinker with the nation’s constitution to elongate his tenure.
Mantu, Araraume, Aminu and others have at one time or the other denied working in tandem with the former president to tweak the statue books for their selfish interest.
In an interview Mantu granted Premium Times in 2016 he said: “The role was open. I did not have any hidden agenda about tenure elongation. If I had, would I have gone to discuss it with spirits? It was human beings that I would tell. And up till now, nobody has said Mantu came to him to canvass support for tenure elongation.
“Obasanjo did not tell me to bend the rules to accommodate his interest. Never! Indeed, let me say for the benefit of hindsight, I would have expected the media to approach Obasanjo if he had interest in elongating his tenure.
“The fact that he subjected himself to the constitutional procedure of doing so should have been applauded because there were presidents who would sit tight. Of course, we are aware of a president in Africa who said ‘I am the country, the country is me.’ And he refused to go.
“If Obasanjo had wanted to cause confusion, he was still the incumbent President, he could have caused a lot of problem. He could have even asked the military to stage a coup against him. Then, United Nations would come and say we should negotiate and that Obasanjo should be there for two years and all sort of things. So, at times, no matter how bad something is, let us look at it objectively and see the other side of it.
“In everything that appears to be bad, there is something good also there. For subjecting himself to constitutional procedure, he should be applauded. Look at Rwanda, the President subjected himself to constitutional process of elongating his tenure and he is still there because he has brought a lot of transformation to the country.
“It (third term) failed because most of the Senators bought into the campaign of those people who did not want Obasanjo to have another tenure because they were also very eager to take over Aso Rock. And those were the people who went to buy the press, buy everybody to hype all sorts of negativity about Obasanjo’s tenure elongation.
“As far as I am concerned, it (the third term plot) died before that day. It died some days before because something happened that led to its death. Let me say it was not popular with a lot of Senators. Maybe those who were supporting the tenure elongation did not do their work in terms of showcasing its advantages.
“But the mistake people made was that it was not going to be for Obasanjo alone. It was for all Presidents because proponents of that project believe two terms of four years is not enough to make impact in terms of transforming the nation economically.
“I don’t want to say much about that. All I know is that he (Obasanjo) was not happy. But he knew a tree could not make a forest.”
I do not intend to dwell so much on the punishment that was meted to certain crop of politicians who stood against the third term project.
Obasanjo’s deputy, Atiku Abubakar, former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, and a host of others paid one prize or the other, and are still paying because of their insistence that tenure elongation is self-serving.
Not only did most of them come under serious political persecution, their businesses were marked for destruction and their image branded in ways that suggested they are the most corrupt persons known to mankind globally.
Many people are worried that so much noise is being made by politicians today about 2023, almost three and half years to the end of the second term of Buhari.
There have been reports of persons from the north saying power will not shift to anywhere after Buhari, or better still, that 2023 would be determined, more by number, than by clamour by persons who want power shifted to the Southern part in 2023.
Only God knows what the interest of the proponents of “power must not shift from the north” is or even who is beating the drum they have started dancing in public.
Enya, no doubt, has not hidden his own desire as an interested party, a Buharists you may call him, like many of his ilk whom he appears to be their forerunner.
Without faulting his right to approach the court for what he believes is of common good and national interest, Enya must convince Nigerians that he is not a spoiler doing a hatchet job like those before him did on tenure elongation.
Yes, in a democracy the majority must have their way and the minority their say.
There are lessons to learn from Mantu’s logic on the botched Obasanjo’s third term agenda.
Whether the approach to Nigeria’s constitution review which Mantu was then senate committee chairman was in order or not, the recourse to deployment of millions of naira of taxpayers money to induce the House members and Senators put a lie to whatever hidden good intentions the third term proponents had in mind.
And there were no good intentions other than for Obasanjo to stay put in office and use same to dispense unimaginable patronages to the likes of Mantu who helped him to achieve tenure elongation.
Anyone who thinks there is no merit in the campaign for tenure elongation for Buhari or that it is a ruse must think again.
Tenure elongation campaign for Buhari is alive and well, only that the President may not be disposed towards the intention of the crusaders.
I like the response by Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) that those pushing the agenda should respect the President and back off. The question one must ask is: Why should Buhari cave in to such nonsense?
Yes, Buhari had said his decision not to run for a third term in office is sacrosanct, final and irreversible, but is that all there needs to be done to dissuade the characters from wrongfully influencing Nigerians and fouling the polity?
During Obasanjo’s era when the third term project was initiated, the government then did deny its reality. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that was in power then had dismissed the insinuations until it became obvious Obasanjo was even using tenure elongation project to test the loyalty of party members to him.
Who says Buhari cannot do the same thing or even travel the roads Mantu felt Obasanjo did not travel that made former president lose the fight for third term bid?
The likes of Enya ought to be called to order, not only by Buhari but by his party as further demonstration that APC cannot be dancing to a tune different from the one the members are dancing.
That the APC leadership has waded in and dissociated the party from Enya as an agent provocateur on a self-serving mission with little consideration about the general good is not enough evidence there is no tenure elongation gambit.
More often than not, political office holders fall for the whims and caprices of those around them. The hangers-on see both windows of opportunities and weaknesses in the office holder and tap into them to advance their own selfish interest.
The Nigerian constitution stipulates that every president and governor can only serve for a maximum of two terms of four years per term.
Many democracies globally do the same and they have kept fate with their countries’ constitutions and people. From the day their leaders are sworn in to office, they know the work to be done is huge and so approach governance head-on.
Unfortunately, that is not the lot of us in Nigeria where time meant for work is spent at the Tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court and at end of the circle valuable time meant for work is lost.
The reason Nigeria is not working is because of characters like Enya.
As an indigene of Ebonyi, Enya should be ashamed that his state has a fair share of unemployed, underemployed and poverty-striken youth on streets of Lagos and Abuja hawking for survival?
If I were him I should ask myself how another term for Buhari or any other president for that matter would impact the lives of common people of Ebonyi better than what they are getting now.
What can he say is the gain his vulnerable Ebonyi people have benefitted from the lawmakers who have enjoyed unlimited tenure which he is proposing for the president and governors?
Rather than bother about the length of years the president or governor must serve, let the Enyas of this world concentrate their thought on how well they serve under the constitutionally approved tenure.
Any president or governor who could not do much with eight years cannot do magic even if the eight years is doubled.
The spirit of service is about the now than the after. The APC should, therefore, take steps to fish out all those within its fold that are working with Enya. That done, the APC should dismiss them from its fold and if possible, initiate the process of their arrest as bad and dangerous influence.