Statement by  PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO To the PDP National Executive Committee  on Third Term Agenda and Other Matters

Thursday, May 18, 2006

When the National Chairman of our Party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), decided to call the emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC), I decided to alter my long-standing programme to be able to address you and, through you, members of our great Party and, of course, by extension, the nation.

The National Assembly as the constitutional and legitimate body for making laws for this country including the supreme law of the land - the Constitution - has just concluded as it deemed fit, especially the Senate, the exercise on the amendment to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The outcome is victory for democracy. There is no absolute right and absolute truth except God. And in any argument or debate, there is bound to be an element of right and wrong or truth and untruth on either side. And we must respect each other no matter the human verdict and human foibles. Respect, of course, begets respect.

At the last NEC meeting, our Party took a position as a major stakeholder in the Constitutional Amendment debate, as normal in a democracy. And again, as a democratic Party, it did not impose its decision on its members in this respect; no matter what office they hold. Members were allowed to discuss freely and to act or vote according to the dictate of their conscience. That is democracy at work. And it must be hailed in spite of alleged imperfections.

Many derogatory statements and unfounded allegations have been made about me and my position concerning the so-called third term in the National Assembly and in the media which are false, incorrect and uncalled for. Of course, that is part of burden of leadership in our own type of society. However, I believe that in all situations, decorum must be maintained and different arms of Government must perform their functions with mutual respect and dignity.

Just as the National Assembly and the Distinguished and Honourable Members should be respected, they too must learn to respect others and other institutions. Tolerance is a mark of maturity.

Throughout the period, I resisted the invitation to be drawn on either side and I maintained studied silence. I was maligned, insulted and wrongly accused but I remained where I am and what I am and I remained focused. However, one thing is clear from the exercise, the Constitution has been operated and it stood the test of democracy. There are some regrettable reports from all accounts that I received, and that is the threat of, or actual use of blackmail, intimidation and violence on both sides.

Once debate and discourse are being substituted by intimidation, blackmail, threats and violence, then democracy is in great danger. I have also received allegations of bribery which EFCC is investigating. Apart from these unsavoury allegations, the exercise is another process in the operation of our Constitution. The Constitution should hopefully be strengthened by the process and the exercise that have just been concluded. As a political Party, we should accept the verdict of the National Assembly even though the two Chambers initially concluded differently. The Constitution must be held hallowed and sacred. And, on the basis of the Constitution in hand, we must start to plan for the next elections.

I have no doubt in my mind that the acrimony, threats and media excesses that accompanied the Constitutional Amendment exercise, must have created or deepened conflicts and divisions within our Party. As a matter of urgency, Mr. Chairman and members of NEC, I believe that we must embark on fence-mending, soothing of relationships, closing gaps and reconciling and ensuring inclusion wherever possible. Setting up a team of three eminent men and women of great maturity and integrity to carry out the exercise in each zone with the Zonal Vice-Chairman accompanying may be the way to deal with the issues expeditiously within the next two weeks.

Again, I want to congratulate the proponents and the opponents in our Party of the Constitution Amendment exercise that the National Assembly has just concluded. As a Party, we should put the issue behind us, heal the wound of acrimony and together march forward. Once again, it was democracy at work and it was victory for democracy. And all Nigerian democrats are winners.

At this juncture, I want to reiterate that as the Leader of this great Party, I will continue to defend the Constitution and protect democracy. My track record speaks for itself in this regard and having been a victim of a ruthless undemocratic regime, I cannot be anything but a guardian of democracy. Under no excuse or guise should democracy and its practice be supplanted with any substitution whatsoever.

Let me, at this juncture, commend and thank our loyal members and supporters who have commitedly entrusted the running of the affairs of this country to our great Party, the PDP. As a political party, we have performed and we will continue to perform. Nigerians know us and they have trusted us and they can continue to trust us. We will not betray their trust. I personally, once again, thank our Party loyalists and our Nigerian supporters for the confidence reposed in me. Let me also assure you and let me assure Nigerians that the PDP will continue to be well led. Let me, in a special way, commend the National Chairman of our Party and his team for their hard work, loyalty and commitment and Chairman of Board of Trustees and his team of loyal and steadfast trustees for same. I will not leave out, of course, our foot soldiers at the State, Local Government and ward levels for appreciation and commendation. They have done us proud.

We must never give way to detractors, predators, dividers, and destroyers. We must remain strong.

As democrats, we must move ahead to put our houses at every level in order so as to prepare us to focus on continuously repositioning Nigeria for unity, security, stability, democracy, transparency, accountability, economic development and growth and good governance in its broadest sense and a place in the global division of labour and decision-making. No God-fearing human being should consider fellow human beings as expendable to achieve political position and office or any position for that matter. Let us, together, stand tough and tall as the glorious future beckons to us. We cannot afford another misstep. God forbid.

May God bless you, May God bless our great Party. May God continue to bless Nigeria. Forward ever.

Robot  Villager

# 1 Statement by PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO To the PDP National Executive Comm...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 19.05.2006 11:18

gwobezentashi  Villager

# 2 OBJ Lied: •Why Atiku Shunned PDP NEC Meeting By Tony Orilade, Abuja President Olusegun Obasanjo lived up to his ignoble reputation as an unrepentant liar when he told members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at its National Executive Council meeting yesterday that his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, could not attend the parley because he was indisposed. Investigations by P.M.News revealed that Atiku was conspicuously absent at the emergency meeting because he deliberately shunned it. Sources close to the vice president told P.M.News this morning that why Atiku kept away from the parley was because he was invited a few hours to the meeting whereas other party chieftains across the country got their invitations long before the meeting. The vice president was said to have felt very bad about this and perceived it as a deliberate attempt to prevent him from making any meaningful contributions at the meeting because of the short notice he was given. Our sources said the president told a blatant lie as a face-saving measure to explain the absence of Atiku at the NEC meeting. The Vice President was said to be hale and hearty at the time the meeting was taking place at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja. And for the first time ever, the president started his speech by apologising for Atiku’s absence. The apology from Atiku, the president claimed, was left with his (Obasanjo) Chief of Staff, a claim Atiku’s aides have since denied, saying the vice president never sent any apology to the president to deliver at the NEC meeting on his behalf. Meanwhile, the newly formed Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) and Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group and other political leaders have lambasted President Obasanjo over his speech on the aborted third term agenda. They said Nigerians were not deceived about Obasanjo’s attempt to put up a brave face after the defeat of the agenda at the National Assembly. ACD’s Head, Media and Publicity, Lai Mohammed, said the president’s attempt to perpetuate himself in power was a total disgrace not only to himself but all he stood for in life. Many Nigerians have called on the president to apologise to them for putting the country on edge in his attempt to elongate his tenure. source: PM NEWS 19/05/2006 Posted by gwobezentashi| 19.05.2006 11:23

Baly

# 3 This is a case of the spirit is willing but the body is weak for Obasanjo. I am really surprised that he was by any means entertaining the idea. At the same time, he has accepted defeat. It is time to look forward before those worse than him used the acrimony to sneak in. Do you want Babangida, Atiku, Uba, Adedibu in or to decide who is going to be President? Be careful now. Posted by Baly| 19.05.2006 12:06

ifeolooni  Villager

# 4 thanks mister presi for accepting it.it is not easy for the powerful to concede but thanks for being a leader Godbless u Posted by ifeolooni| 19.05.2006 12:28

IZONERE  Villager

# 5 Leader ni, leader ko! What about all the crimes that were committed during the whole 'third term agenda'? Do we just write them away? I doubt that this nonsense is all over. If it is the OBJoke that we know, I am sure that he has only retreated to the drawing board to map out plans to deal out even more 'evil' to unsuspecting Nigerians. The prelude to the elections and the main event will tell all! Posted by IZONERE| 19.05.2006 13:46

Zhul- qarnain  Villager

# 6 OBJ: At the last NEC meeting, our party took a position as a major stakeholder in the Constitutional Amendment debate, as normal in a democracy. OBJ: At this juncture, I want to reiterate that as the Leader of this great Party … OBJ: Throughout the period, I resisted the invitation to be drawn on either side and I maintained studied silence. OBJ: Nigerians know us and they have trusted us and they can continue to trust us. As the leader of the party, how could it have been possible that you sat on the fence concerning a constitutional amendment of which you would have been the major beneficiary? Are you sure that Nigerians trust you and can continue to trust you after this 3rd term abracadabra episode? It is only Humpty dumpty that sits of the fence (sorry wall). Instead of playing the ostrich, the proper thing for OBJ to do is to apologise to the nation for creating unnecessary tension in the land. Posted by Zhul- qarnain| 19.05.2006 14:11

Anthony

# 7 How ignorant can some guys on this site be----or is this just a case of the usual infantile mischief-making? For God's sake, the defeated constitutional amendment process was not only about the third term gambit. There were many more very sensitive issues in the body of the proposed review. Among these issues were the resource control, power shift, land use act etc etc. But guess what, in the name of playing to the gallery of silly emotions, sentiments and ethnic brouhaha, all these issues got killed before any debate could take place-----just like throwing the baby away with the bath water. Ironically, among those who have been jubilating are the very people that are affected by these issues. And as for the Gwobe..... guy, I say a big congratulation! Unlike the fools who will later come back on this site to cry over resource control, marginalisation etc, Gwobe..... and his ilk are the winners in this case. Posted by Anthony| 19.05.2006 14:55

Bayo

# 8 Gwobezetanshi, the Yoruba say "if you ask a man to drop whatever he has in his hand and he complies, it will be ridiculous for you to still go ahead to make an attempt at flogging him." You have created some form of a reputation for yourself when it comes to cutting and pasting parochial newspaper articles on this site in justification of your war of attritions against Obj. The object of your war has since been achieved......kaji? Therefore, rather than just go on to celebrate, you still went on to cut and paste a most unnecessary article that reeked of ignorance, indecency and gutter language at their worst. If the writer of that piece was suffering from some uncouth, childish ailment, must you encourage it? But in case, the problem is contagious, here is an excerpt of another report of the event at the PDP meeting as reported by a different reporter and in a different newspaper (Guardian May 19, 2006). ".................When it was his (Obasanjo's) turn to talk, the master of ceremony and the national publicity secretary of the party, John Odey, said the "father" and leader of the great party had something to tell the members. The crowd in the hall had grown far beyond the hall capacity with even state chairmen and a governor from one of the South-West states looking for anybody who would volunteer his seat for him. Obasanjo started by delivering an apology from the vice president, Atiku Abubakar for not attending the meeting. This was about the first time he did that even though he said the VP left the note of excuse with his (Obasanjo's) Chief of Staff. He went on to commend the members of the National Assembly to the amazement of the members themselves - some of them winked at one another in utter bewilderment asking whether it was really the President who was talking. Obasanjo remained calm all through, though his speech was intermittently punctuated by standing ovation and songs of praise initiated by the former women leader of the party, Mrs. Josephine Anenih. When he ended the speech, the thunderous ovation triggered yet another round of songs one of which was: 'Now Obasanjo don de rule, Nigeria don better'. When he was leaving the hall, nearly all the members including the governors scrambled for handshakes with him and some of them openly confessed that his speech was fatherly and soothing. For the first time, the PDP brought the Africa Independent Television and NTA to cover its NEC meeting live. The President said the PDP as a party took a position on the constitutional amendment but as a democratic party still allowed members to speak on the matter according to their conscience, pointing out that the derogatory remarks and the allegations against him to the effect that he was manipulating the process were all false............." The difference is clear, isn't it? Posted by Bayo| 19.05.2006 15:12

Odinaka  Villager

# 9 What is the nonsense about thanking Mr president for conceeding? I think that Obasanjo lacks shame, even at his age. He should be ashamed of himself, and so should all his fellow third term plotters. Only fools will believe that the president did not participate actively in the just ended show of shame Posted by Odinaka| 19.05.2006 17:27

Farmer

# 10 'we must not give way to detractors, predators, dividers and destroyers' Villagers, who do you think is Obasanjo refering to? And what can he do at the moment! Posted by Farmer| 19.05.2006 18:12

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