How media opposed third term for Nigeria’s president, by Nnamani

But for the watchdog role played by the media, the agenda to amend the 1999 Constitution to provide for a third term for Nigeria’s President would have sailed through.

This is the position of Senator Ken Nnamani, who was Senate President in 2006 when the Constitution Amendment Bill, generally regarded by the public as the Third Term Bill, was defeated on the floor of the Senate.

In his just-published autobiography, Standing Strong: Legislative Reforms, Third Term and Other Issues of the Fifth Senate, due for presentation in Abuja on October 21, Nnamani detailed the intrigues that played out during the constitution amendment debate.

The ex-Senate President said he was convinced that the ‘Third Term’ plot was orchestrated by erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo, clarifying that while the former Nigerian leader did not seek his support directly, his aides and enforcers did.
[ad]