Obasanjo’s Third Term Bid Would Have Ripped Nigerian Constitution Apart’ – Tinubu Hails National Assembly

‘Obasanjo’s Third Term Bid Would Have Ripped Nigerian Constitution Apart’ – Tinubu Hails National Assembly

He declared that the attempt would have torn the country’s constitution apart.

President Bola Tinubu has commended the fifth National Assembly for saving Nigeria’s democracy by rejecting the third-term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006.

He declared that the attempt would have torn the country’s constitution apart.

Tinubu made the statement on Thursday during his address to a joint session of the National Assembly on June 12 in Abuja.

“It is fitting that I come to this chamber. You are the authors of the people’s law, and I must be their faithful implementer. While we may not always agree, we must forge a way to work together because this is what democracy demands of us. I pledge myself to this cooperation and ask that you do the same for the good of our people,” Tinubu said.

Highlighting key moments in Nigeria’s democratic journey, the President applauded the legislature’s resistance to constitutional manipulation during the Obasanjo administration.

“Mr. Chairman, the National Assembly has acted to uphold democratic ideals at every critical moment in our national history. In 2006, the 5th National Assembly protected our democracy against an unseemly third-term bid that would have ripped our constitution apart. In 2010, the National Assembly, through the doctrine of necessity, opened the door for then-Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to become the acting President following the illness of his predecessor,” Tinubu stated.

He also reflected on past efforts by lawmakers to resist military authoritarianism, even at great personal risk.

“Even under the military, the National Assembly tried to protect our democracy. After General Abacha took over power on November 17, 1993, and dissolved the National Assembly, some of us, led by Senator Ameh Ebute, the Senate President in the 3rd Republic, defied the General and his goons to reconvene in the Old Parliament Building in Lagos. We were jailed for our defiance,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, In March, revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly attempted to bribe National Assembly members with N70million each to support his failed third-term agenda.

Speaking during an interview on Channels TV’s live programme, which SaharaReporters monitored, Adeyeye had detailed how lawmakers were pressured and financial incentives were dangled before them to extend Obasanjo’s stay in power beyond 2007.

“That was when my struggle began,” Adeyeye recalled.
“I remember very well that the Speaker said I was to lead a delegation of the House of Representatives to China. I said, ‘Mr Speaker, it does not happen that a member of the opposition will lead a parliamentary delegation to a different country. I did not feel competent. I was not the leader of my party. Dr. Wunmi Bewaji was. So if they wanted to pick a member of the opposition, why not Bewaji?’”

Adeyeye explained that despite his reluctance, he was eventually convinced to go on the trip.

However, while in Amsterdam en route to China, he discovered that his absence was part of a ploy to sideline him from crucial deliberations on the third-term agenda.