Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani,has said he sacrificed his senate career after truncating the third term bid of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006.
Although Obasanjo has repeatedly denied he was involved in the plan to amend the constitution and grant himself an extra term, Nnamami, who was the Senate President between April 2005 and May 2007, said senators elected on the platform of then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were promised automatic tickets in the 2007 elections if they voted in favour of the bid.
In his newly released book, ‘Standing Strong: Legislative Reforms, Third Term and Other Issues of the 5th Senate’, Nnamani wrote on the clandestine meetings that were held to push the third term agenda.
He shared excerpts of the book with TheCable.
“The senate dropped the proposed amendment on May 16, 2006, after a voice vote.
“In my own case, my reelection to the senate was foreclosed because I was marked out as the principal figure among those that ended the infamous project,” Nnamani said
He said he knew he would not be given a level-playing field in the party’s primary, so “I opted to take the High Road and stay out of the contest.”
According to Nnamani, promises were made before the senate vote, and assurances were given to many of the lawmakers that they will get a straight ticket back to the national assembly.
Huge sums of money were also said to have been offered to the lawmakers to back the third term agenda.
Nnamani said he rejected all the offers, like many others, saying It was the least sacrifice he could make to ensure that the constitution amendment process was not abused.
“We lost the opportunity of continuing with a crop of lawmakers who had gained experience in the culture of legislation but who were brazenly denied their party’s ticket because they stood against autocracy. The political party system as nurtured by Obasanjo was one where the party and the governors were in the pouch of the president and from the comfort of his bedroom he decided who went where,” he wrote.
President Muhammadu Buhari will be the special guest of honour at the public presentation of the book on Thursday, in Abuja.
A retired general and former minister, Theophilus Danjuma, will be the chairman at the event.
Everyone painting themselves saint