A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has narrated how the late former President Muhammadu Buhari played a decisive role in thwarting ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alleged third term bid, which he claimed could have plunged Nigeria into a one-party state.
Okechukwu, a former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, said Buhari, as an opposition leader in 2006, held a series of strategic meetings with lawmakers in the National Assembly to block the move, despite reported attempts to bribe them with N50 million each.
In a statement issued on Friday, Okechukwu said Buhari’s intervention reinforced the resolve of the then Senate President, Ken Nnamani, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari, to resist the constitutional amendment that would have allowed Obasanjo to extend his tenure beyond 2007.
“It is with nostalgia that one remembers how Buhari rose to his feet when news filtered out that Obasanjo was allegedly plotting for a third term,” Okechukwu stated.
“His steadfast opposition and strategic engagements with the National Assembly ensured that the plan collapsed. He encouraged Nnamani and Masari to recognise the overwhelming public resistance to the scheme.
“That was the death knell of the one-party state agenda, despite the alleged N50 million inducement per lawmaker.”
The APC chieftain argued that Buhari’s resistance preserved Nigeria’s fledgling democracy at the time and prevented the institutionalisation of political dominance by a single party.
He also drew parallels between the political climate of the early 2000s and present-day Nigeria, warning of what he described as a “dangerous slide” towards one-party dominance.
“Between 1999 and 2007, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo nearly subverted our democracy. Today, there are echoes of that era, making it imperative for leaders with Buhari’s courage to rise again,” Okechukwu warned.
The former VON DG maintained that Buhari’s role in halting the alleged third term plot remains a defining moment in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
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