Afenifere Speaks On President Buhari's Alleged Third Term Bid

 

 

Afenifere, pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, on Wednesday described the statement by President Muhammadu Buhari promising to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years as a slip of tongue.

 

The organisation, while reacting to the suspicion among Nigerians that the President may be planning to elongate his tenure in office and the denial by the presidency, said it was a contradiction for Buhari to be talking about a 10-year programme when he has a four-year mandate.

 

The president, in his opening speech during the inaugural June 12 Democracy Day celebration in Abuja, had said: “In face of these challenges, our government, elected by the people in 2015 and re-elected in March, has been mapping out policies, measures, and laws to maintain our unity and at the same time lift the bulk of our people out of poverty and onto the road to prosperity.

 

The statement has been interpreted by some Nigerians to imply that he was planning to extend his tenure in office, especially as some groups across the country have issued statements declaring support for the president to continue in office beyond 2023.

 

Also, attempts by some members of the cabal to whittle down the powers of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and statements made by some northern power brokers that the presidency will remain in the region beyond 2023 has further heightened the fears of Nigerians.

 

Last month, a political activist, Deji Adeyanju, took to his Twitter to allege that President Buhari was planning to extend his leadership for an extra term, contrary to what the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allowed.

 

“Buhari is planning a 3rd term,” Adeyanju had alleged.

 

Addressing the concerns on Tuesday, the presidency said there were no plans to alter the country’s constitution to allow President Buhari rule for a third term.

 

While calling on those nursing the idea of a third term for the president to perish the thought, Yinka Odumakin, National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, said the error in speech made by the president is already generating suspicion in the country.

 

“It’s a contradiction in terms to have a four-year mandate and be talking of a 10-year programme. It was a Freudian slip, which has now generated so much suspicion in the land. The idea should be perished if it was ever contemplated,” he said.

 

Also sharing Afenifere’s point of view, Chief Mike Ozekhome, human rights lawyer, said the president could not be talking about himself taking the country out of poverty in the next 10 years when his constitutionally allowed term expires in 2023.

 

According to Ozekhome, the president could only speak on what he could do for Nigerians in three and half years’ time as there was no guarantee that even his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), could remain in power in the next 10 years.

 

 

On the rumoured third term, Ozekhome urged Nigerians not to lose sleep over it, saying the agenda cannot work in Nigeria.

 

The PDP also on Wednesday cautioned the APC and the cabal in the Buhari presidency against plot to push a third term agenda for him.