But for the watchdog role played by the media, the agenda to amend the 1999 Constitution to provide for a third term for the president would have sailed through. This was disclosed by 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 5th Senate, due for presentation in Abuja on October 21, Nnamani details the intrigues that played out during the constitution amendment debates. The former Senate President said he had no doubt in his mind that the third term plan was orchestrated by President Olusegun Obasanjo, because, while the president did not ask for his support directly, Obasanjo’s aides and enforcers, among them Chief Tony Anenih, sought to recruit him into the ignoble agenda. Yet, he resisted the overtures and other attempts made to hijack the nature and direction of the debates to suit the third term agenda.
To shine the light on the dark agenda, Nnamani said he found a willing ally in the media, which was why he allowed for unfettered access by journalists to the senate during plenary, a move that angered the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Obasanjo presidency at that time.
Nnamani attributed the failure of the third term plan to a number of forces, including opposition figures and principled politicians who worked to scuttle the agenda, and the media. Of the media, he said: “Of course, at the that time there were some sensational, unverifiable and sometimes patently false reports for which my skin crawled and my heart sank, but on the whole, I saw in the Nigerian press, an institution that was ready to put it all on the line to defend the constitution and the sanctity and integrity of good journalism practice.”
On how the media aided the defeat of the amendment, the former Senate president said it came from the decision to let the media cover the debates live, which was championed by him. He said: “I was determined to push the freedom further. I wanted an avenue where people could see the work of their representatives live on television and hear it on radio. So, in an unprecedented move, we allowed live television coverage of the debates. This was a decision I kept to myself and a small band of people and ensured that no lobbyist had a whiff of until I announced it. And when I did, there was anger among the party leaders and in the ranks of the pro-third term people.
I was also told by friends within the higher echelons of the administration that the presidency was aghast, especially as their acolytes and associates at the Senate had complained that the live coverage would be a dampener and kill their urge to forcefully defend the proposal. But I couldn’t care less. In my view, senators who are called distinguished and who truly represent their constituents should have no problem making their positions known before the media if those positions truly reflect the views or desires of their constituents.”
He recalled that the decision to allow for media coverage and open debates was attacked by persons in the government who asked him to stop the process but he refused. As a corollary to the open debates, he also insisted that senators would not hide behind the ‘ayes’ and ‘nays’ bandwagons but that each person must speak on the bill. This made it easy for constituents to monitor their representatives.
Nnamani emphasized the role of a free and unfettered press in the transparent functioning of a democratic society, arguing that, “The press must be free because, where the press is not complicit, its effectiveness in playing its role as the Fourth Estate of the realm is the difference between an open society and an opaque one. It can also be the difference between good public conduct and reprehensible public conduct by leaders.”
The public presentation of the book is billed for Thursday, October 21, 2021 in Abuja with President Muhammadu Buhari as the Special Guest of Honour. The occasion will be chaired by a former Army Chief of Staff and Defence Minister, Lt-Gen Theophilus Danjuma.
