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Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), legal luminary and social critic, has said President Olusegun Obasanjo is canvassing for tenure elongation because he is corrupt and afraid to let his acts of corruption catch up with him should he leave office. He also said those campaigning for third term for the President are corrupt individuals who do not want an end to the benefits they are currently getting from the status quo.
Fawehinmi who spoke yesterday at a seminar organised by the Centre for Legislative Studies in Lagos, carpeted the reform agenda of the federal government saying it was illegal and unconstitutional because certain sectors of the economy which said were the sole prerogative of government were being ceded to private individuals in the name of privatization. He referred to Section 16 of the 1999 constitution to buttress his point that some sectors of the economy must be regulated and supervised by the federal government.
When a man says he wants to die in office, he definitely has something to hide,î Fawehinmi said, while noting that the launch of the Presidential Library project of the president last year was an act of corruption because according to him, those who had benefited from government were made to pay back to the president. He said the result of the investigation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into that affair was still being awaited over a year after he petitioned the agency over the matter.
He said the issue was not as much as third term for Obasanjo but an agenda to secure a life presidency as other African leaders like Omar Bongo of Gabon, late Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, among others, did by amending their countryís constitution to secure perpetual terms in office. ìWhat Obasanjo is seeking is 12 years not one more term of office and if he gets it, nothing stops him from amending the constitution again if he is alive,î Fawehinmi said.
The senior advocate tore the reform agenda of the government on which basis the presidentís supporters are calling for tenure extension to shreds saying it was anti-people apart from being illegal. He said people should not be afraid to engage members of the economic team whom he described as textbook experts who have no connection with the realities on ground. ìThe President hates the people; that is why he has increased the price of petrol 12 times since he came into office in 1999,î Fawehinmi said, adding that Nigerians cannot vote for continuity for an administration that continues to impoverish them by a minimum living wage that is N183 a day.î
He said it was a twist of irony that the anti-third term train now had the likes of Senator Uche Chukwumerije and General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), former military ruler on board while supposed human rights activists like Hon. Abdul Oroh were supportive of third term. He assured that ìthird term will fail if not in the National Assembly but with the people. Abdul Oroh is the number one enemy of the human rights community, he is a disgrace to all we have fought for and he has shown by his antics that his life is being regulated by naira and kobo.î
Fawehinmi however, called on progressives to look beyond third term and begin to proffer alternatives to the status quo, warning that ìanother crisis worse than third term will emerge if we are found wanting for lack of planning and organization. We have to separate the wheat from the shaft because there is no way we can collaborate with Babangida and others who have no history of fighting for the people.
Source: Thisdayonline.com
