Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari, during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the All Progressive Congress (APC) said he was not going to stand re-election for a third term in office. Not a few Nigerians queried what necessitated that speech. The constitution is clear on the terms of office for the President and State Governors.
Granted, alot has been said in the media about the third term agenda of the President. It’s been speculated that should the third term bid fail, persons at the helms of affairs are determined to retain the Presidency in the North. Of course, with some alleged Southern support.
Just yesterday, I saw a post by the spokesman to former Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, Lere Olayinka, detailing how an APC chieftain from Ebonyi State approached a Federal High Court to ‘create’ the condition that would make President Muhammadu Buhari eligible to stand election for a third term come 2023. Shockingly, we are still in 2019. We elected him just this year! He hasn’t even stayed one-quarter of his second term in office.
The member of the APC, Hon Charles Oko Enya is said to have approached a Federal High Court in Abakaliki, seeking an order to direct the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to remove constitutional clauses hindering the President and State Governors from seeking third terms in office. Nothing can be more democracy-threatening, and worrisome for true Nigerians.
In his suit with the number: FHC/AI/CS/90/19, which was filed at the court last Wednesday and made available to newsmen by his counsel, Hon Enya is seeking the possible expungement of the very sections of the 1999 constitution that crush the ego and thoughts of anyone seeking to be the life-leader of our dear country.
Dictatorship is never coming back to Nigeria; the earlier Hon Enya and whoever his ‘backers’ are know that, the better. It is assumed that seeking political office is a means to serve the people. In our part of the world, it’s a means to have the people serve you and impoverish them the more.
Nigerians, most especially the youths, are set to embark on a protest to show our discontent with a bill that’s undergoing ‘vetting’ at the National Assembly. This bill seeks to shut every dissenting voice to whatever the government does; good or bad. That can’t be. This is a democracy. Imagine the insensitivity of the ruling party to the plight of the average Nigerian and their desperation to impose an almost senile man on over 200million persons! Are there no better heads?
Fronts and actions like these are probably the reasons they seek to shut us all up. But, we can’t live like slaves in our own land. Power always resides with the people.
If President Muhammadu Buhari has been a student of history, he’d have known that no backdoor and seemingly unaware stance of his to the third term rootings for his Presidency will hold ground in Nigeria. Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo had resources to change Senate Presidents as he wished, yet, he couldn’t have his way with a third term.
Nothing can be done to the constitution without the National Assembly. Although the leadership of the National Assembly have made the Legislative arm a puppet of the Executive, we’ll not fold our arms and watch our country and citizens ‘oppressed’ by a supposedly powerful but minute fraction of our country population. Power, ultimately, belongs to the people.
The people are watching.
Aroso Akintomide
Twitter: @tomidearoso